Spatial clustering of orientation preference in primary visual cortex of the large rodent agouti
Dardo N. Ferreiro,
Sergio A. Conde-Ocazionez,
João H.N. Patriota,
Luã C. Souza,
Moacir F. Oliveira,
Fred Wolf,
Kerstin E. Schmidt
Affiliations
Dardo N. Ferreiro
Neurobiology of Vision Lab, Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
Sergio A. Conde-Ocazionez
Neurobiology of Vision Lab, Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil; Universidad de Santander, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. Laboratorio de Neurociencias, Bucaramanga, Colombia
João H.N. Patriota
Neurobiology of Vision Lab, Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
Luã C. Souza
Neurobiology of Vision Lab, Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
Moacir F. Oliveira
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Universidade Federal Rural do Semiárido, Mossoró, Brazil
Fred Wolf
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen, Germany; Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany; Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, Göttingen, Germany; Campus Institute for Dynamics of Biological Networks, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Kerstin E. Schmidt
Neurobiology of Vision Lab, Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil; Corresponding author
Summary: All rodents investigated so far possess orientation-selective neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) but – in contrast to carnivores and primates – no evidence of periodic maps with pinwheel-like structures. Theoretical studies debating whether phylogeny or universal principles determine development of pinwheels point to V1 size as a critical constraint. Thus, we set out to study maps of agouti, a big diurnal rodent with a V1 size comparable to cats'. In electrophysiology, we detected interspersed orientation and direction-selective neurons with a bias for horizontal contours, corroborated by homogeneous activation in optical imaging. Compatible with spatial clustering at short distance, nearby neurons tended to exhibit similar orientation preference. Our results argue against V1 size as a key parameter in determining the presence of periodic orientation maps. They are consistent with a phylogenetic influence on the map layout and development, potentially reflecting distinct retinal traits or interspecies differences in cortical circuitry.
