Universality in the Evolution of Orientation Columns in the Visual Cortex

• DOI: 10.1126/science.1194869
• Publication Date: 2010-11-05T02:34:02Z
• Authors: Matthias Kaschube; Michael Schnabel; Siegrid Löwel; David M. Coppola; Leonard E. White; Fred Wolf
• Keywords: Neurons; 0301 basic medicine; 03 medical and health sciences; Ferrets; Tupaiidae; Animals; Galago; Biological Evolution; Visual Cortex

Orientation Columns

In the brain's visual cortex, certain neurons respond to vertical lines and others to horizontal lines, with a range in between. Such orientation of neurons tends to be organized in columns reflecting similar responses, and the columns are organized in pinwheels representing the range of responses.

Kaschube et al.

(p. 1113 , published online 4 November; see the Perspective by

Miller

) looked at the organization of orientation columns in diverse placental mammals and discovered a similarity of organizational principles.