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Summary: The superior temporal sulcus (STS) of the macaque monkey contains
multiple visual areas. Many neurons within these regions respond
selectively to motion direction and to more complex motion patterns,
such as expansion, contraction and rotation. Single-unit recording
and optical recording studies in MT/MST suggest that cells with
similar tuning properties are clustered into columns extending
through multiple cortical layers. In this study, we used a double-label
2-deoxyglucose technique in awake, behaving macaque monkeys to
clarify this functional organization. This technique allowed us to
label, in a single animal, two populations of neurons responding to
two different visual stimuli. In one monkey we compared expansion
with contraction; in a second monkey we compared expansion with
clockwise rotation. Within the STS we found a patchy arrangement
of cortical columns with alternating stimulus selectivity: columns of
neurons preferring expansion versus contraction were more widely
separated than those selective for expansion versus rotation. This
mosaic of interdigitating columns on the floor and posterior bank of
the STS included area MT and some neighboring regions of cortex,
perhaps including area MST.
The tendency for neurons of similar stimulus selectivity to
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