Orientation pinwheels in primary visual cortex of a highly visual marsupial.

ABSTRACT: Primary visual cortices in many mammalian species exhibit modular and periodic orientation preference maps arranged in pinwheel-like layouts. The role of inherited traits as opposed to environmental influences in determining this organization remains unclear. Here, we characterize the cortical organization of an Australian marsupial, revealing pinwheel organization resembling that of eutherian carnivores and primates but distinctly different from the simpler salt-and-pepper arrangement of eutherian rodents and rabbits. The divergence of marsupials from eutherians 160 million years ago and the later emergence of rodents and rabbits suggest that the salt-and-pepper structure is not the primitive ancestral form. Rather, the genetic code that enables complex pinwheel formation is likely widesp

SUBMITTER: Jung YJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9524828 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature