Posteromedial lateral suprasylvian motion area modulates direction but not orientation preference in area 17 of cats

In visual cortices of cats there are two major, largely parallel, feedforward processing streams which conduct visual information from the primary visual cortices to the parietal and temporal visual cortices, processing motion and form information, respectively. In addition to the feedforward streams, there exist many feedback projections from higher-order visual cortices to lower-order visual cortices. Using the intrinsic signal optical imaging, this study has examined the influence of feedback signals originating from area posteromedial lateral suprasylvian (PMLS), the dominant motion-processing region of the parietal cortex, on responses of neurons, orientational maps, and directional maps in cats’ area 17 (striate cortex). The inactivation of area PMLS by local application of GABA resulted in the reduction of the magnitude of responses of area 17 cells though area 17 of the cat is mainly involved in form information processing rather than motion. Furthermore, inactivation of area PMLS abolished the global layout of direction maps in area 17 but did not affect the basic structure of the orientation maps in area 17. Thus, it appears that higher-order cortical areas along one information processing stream may exert cross-stream modulatory effects on fundamental properties of neurons located in the lower-order areas along distinct information processing streams.