Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal: NeuroImage

Volume number: 239

ISSN: 1053-8119

eISSN: 1095-9572

Open access status: Gold

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118286

Publisher: Elsevier

Abstract: 
How much of the functional organization of our visual system is inherited? Here we tested the heritability of retinotopic maps in human visual cortex using functional magnetic resonance imaging. We demonstrate that retinotopic organization shows a closer correspondence in monozygotic (MZ) compared to dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs, suggesting a partial genetic determination. Using population receptive field (pRF) analysis to examine the preferred spatial location and selectivity of these neuronal populations, we estimate a heritability around 10- 20% for polar angle preferences and spatial selectivity, as quantified by pRF size, in extrastriate areas V2 and V3. Our findings are consistent with heritability in both the macroscopic arrangement of visual regions and stimulus tuning properties of visual cortex. This could constitute a neural substrate for variations in a range of perceptual effects, which themselves have been found to be at least partially genetically determined. These findings also add convergent evidence for the hypothesis that functional map topology is linked with cortical morphology.

Harvard Citation style: Alvarez, I., Finlayson, N., Ei, S., de Haas, B., Greenwood, J. and Schwarzkopf, D. (2021) Heritable functional architecture in human visual cortex, NeuroImage, 239, Article 118286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118286

APA Citation style: Alvarez, I., Finlayson, N., Ei, S., de Haas, B., Greenwood, J., & Schwarzkopf, D. (2021). Heritable functional architecture in human visual cortex. NeuroImage. 239, Article 118286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118286