Population receptive field tuning properties of visual cortex during childhood
Visuospatial abilities such as contrast sensitivity and Vernier acuity improve until late in childhood, but the neural mechanisms supporting these changes are poorly understood. We tested to which extent this development might reflect improved spatial sensitivity of neuronal populations in visual co...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2019-06-01
|
| Series: | Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929318301725 |
| _version_ | 1818856504884723712 |
|---|---|
| author | T.M. Dekker D.S. Schwarzkopf B. de Haas M. Nardini M.I. Sereno |
| author_facet | T.M. Dekker D.S. Schwarzkopf B. de Haas M. Nardini M.I. Sereno |
| author_sort | T.M. Dekker |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Visuospatial abilities such as contrast sensitivity and Vernier acuity improve until late in childhood, but the neural mechanisms supporting these changes are poorly understood. We tested to which extent this development might reflect improved spatial sensitivity of neuronal populations in visual cortex. To do this, we measured BOLD-responses in areas V1-V4 and V3a, whilst 6- to 12-year-old children and adults watched large-field wedge and ring stimuli in the MRI scanner, and then fitted population receptive field (pRF) tuning functions to these data (Dumoulin and Wandell, 2008). Cortical magnification and pRF tuning width changed with eccentricity at all ages, as expected. However, there were no significant age differences in pRF size, shape, cortical magnification, or map consistency in any visual region. These findings thus strongly suggest that spatial vision in late childhood is not substantially limited by the spatial tuning of neuronal populations in early visual cortex. Instead, improvements in performance may reflect more efficient read-out of spatial information in early visual regions by higher-level processing stages, or prolonged tuning to more complex visual properties such as orientation. Importantly, this in-depth characterisation of the pRF tuning profiles across childhood, paves the way for in-vivo-testing of atypical visual cortex development and plasticity. Keywords: pRF mapping, Vision, Retinotopy, fMRI, Childhood |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T08:25:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ba21971b2f0649d2a248cb4930459505 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1878-9293 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T08:25:33Z |
| publishDate | 2019-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-ba21971b2f0649d2a248cb49304595052022-12-21T20:29:18ZengElsevierDevelopmental Cognitive Neuroscience1878-92932019-06-0137Population receptive field tuning properties of visual cortex during childhoodT.M. Dekker0D.S. Schwarzkopf1B. de Haas2M. Nardini3M.I. Sereno4Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, UK; Experimental Psychology, University College London, UK; Corresponding author at: Experimental Psychology, Division of Language and Psychological Sciences, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, Bloomsbury, London WC1H 0AP.Experimental Psychology, University College London, UK; School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of Auckland, New ZealandDepartment of Psychology, Justus-Liebig-Universitat, Giessen, GermanyDepartment of Psychology, Durham University, UKDept. of Psychology, San Diego State University, USAVisuospatial abilities such as contrast sensitivity and Vernier acuity improve until late in childhood, but the neural mechanisms supporting these changes are poorly understood. We tested to which extent this development might reflect improved spatial sensitivity of neuronal populations in visual cortex. To do this, we measured BOLD-responses in areas V1-V4 and V3a, whilst 6- to 12-year-old children and adults watched large-field wedge and ring stimuli in the MRI scanner, and then fitted population receptive field (pRF) tuning functions to these data (Dumoulin and Wandell, 2008). Cortical magnification and pRF tuning width changed with eccentricity at all ages, as expected. However, there were no significant age differences in pRF size, shape, cortical magnification, or map consistency in any visual region. These findings thus strongly suggest that spatial vision in late childhood is not substantially limited by the spatial tuning of neuronal populations in early visual cortex. Instead, improvements in performance may reflect more efficient read-out of spatial information in early visual regions by higher-level processing stages, or prolonged tuning to more complex visual properties such as orientation. Importantly, this in-depth characterisation of the pRF tuning profiles across childhood, paves the way for in-vivo-testing of atypical visual cortex development and plasticity. Keywords: pRF mapping, Vision, Retinotopy, fMRI, Childhoodhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929318301725 |
| spellingShingle | T.M. Dekker D.S. Schwarzkopf B. de Haas M. Nardini M.I. Sereno Population receptive field tuning properties of visual cortex during childhood Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience |
| title | Population receptive field tuning properties of visual cortex during childhood |
| title_full | Population receptive field tuning properties of visual cortex during childhood |
| title_fullStr | Population receptive field tuning properties of visual cortex during childhood |
| title_full_unstemmed | Population receptive field tuning properties of visual cortex during childhood |
| title_short | Population receptive field tuning properties of visual cortex during childhood |
| title_sort | population receptive field tuning properties of visual cortex during childhood |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929318301725 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tmdekker populationreceptivefieldtuningpropertiesofvisualcortexduringchildhood AT dsschwarzkopf populationreceptivefieldtuningpropertiesofvisualcortexduringchildhood AT bdehaas populationreceptivefieldtuningpropertiesofvisualcortexduringchildhood AT mnardini populationreceptivefieldtuningpropertiesofvisualcortexduringchildhood AT misereno populationreceptivefieldtuningpropertiesofvisualcortexduringchildhood |