Optical imaging reveals retinotopic organization of dorsal V3 in New World owl monkeys

Optical imaging of intrinsic responses to visual stimuli in extrastriate cortex of owl monkeys provided evidence for the dorsal half of the third visual area, V3. Visual stimuli were used to selectively activate locations in dorsolateral V2 and the rostrally adjoining presumptive V3. Consistent with the proposed retinotopies of dorsal V2 and dorsal V3, small bars of drifting gratings along the horizontal meridian of the contralateral hemifield activated cortex along the V2/V3 border, whereas such stimuli along the vertical meridian activated cortex along the rostral border of V3. Stimuli in limited locations in the lower visual quadrant revealed mirror reversals of retinotopy in dorsal V2 and V3, whereas stimuli in the upper visual quadrant failed to activate either region. Brain sections processed for cytochrome oxidase from the same cases provided architectonic borders of V2 that matched those indicated by the optical imaging. The results support the concept that a narrow dorsal V3 exists in monkeys. V3d borders dorsal V2 and contains a smaller, mirror-image representation of the lower visual quadrant.