A cortical area that responds specifically to optic flow, revealed by fMRI

The continuously changing optic flow on the retina provides information about direction of heading and about the three-dimensional structure of the environment. Here we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to demonstrate that an area in human cortex responds selectively to components of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNature neuroscience Vol. 3; no. 12; pp. 1322 - 1328
Main Authors Morrone, M. C, Tosetti, M, Montanaro, D, Fiorentini, A, Cioni, G, Burr, D. C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Nature Publishing Group 01.12.2000
Subjects
Adult
Brain Mapping
Cerebral cortex
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Medical examination
Motion Perception - physiology
optic flow
Photic Stimulation
Physiological aspects
Reaction Time - physiology
Rotation - adverse effects
Temporal Lobe - anatomy & histology
Temporal Lobe - physiology
Visual Cortex - anatomy & histology
Visual Cortex - physiology
Italy
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Summary:The continuously changing optic flow on the retina provides information about direction of heading and about the three-dimensional structure of the environment. Here we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to demonstrate that an area in human cortex responds selectively to components of optic flow, such as circular and radial motion. This area is within the region commonly referrred to as V5/MT complex, but is distinct from the part of this region that responds to translation. The functional properties of these two areas of the V5/MT complex are also different; the response to optic flow was obtained only with changing flow stimuli, whereas response to translation occurred during exposure to continuous motion.
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ISSN:1097-6256
1546-1726
DOI:10.1038/81860