Unraveling the mesoscale resting-state functional connectivity of ocular dominance columns in humans using high-resolution functional MRI
Despite their importance for visual perception, functional connectivity between ocular dominance columns in human primary visual cortex remains largely unknown. Using high-resolution functional MRI, we localize ocular dominance columns and assess their resting-state functional connectivity in 12 human adults. Consistent with anatomical studies in animals, we find stronger connectivity in middle compared to deep and superficial cortical depths and selectively stronger connectivity between columns with alike compared to unalike ocular polarity. Beyond what was known from animal models, and consistent with human perceptual biases, intra- and interhemispheric connectivity is stronger in peripheral (compared to central) and in dorsal (compared to ventral) subregions. Lastly, connectivity patterns correlate with ocular dominance column maps, suggesting that they can be predicted from connectivity patterns within primary visual cortex. These results highlight the heterogeneity in functional connectivity between ocular dominance columns across cortical depths and visual field representations, underscoring their likely association with perceptual features.
Authors
- Marianna E. Schmidt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-0377-6815)
- W. Scott Hoge (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0944-2350)
- Nikolaus Weiskopf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5239-1881)
- Iman Aganj (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4673-1293)
- Jason Stockmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8454-5347)
- Shahin Nasr (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7546-9976)
- Evgeniya Kirilina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1304-4363)
- Berkin Bilgic̦ (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9080-7865)
- Yu-Lin Chang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6915-7490)
Institutions
- Harvard University (US)
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging (GB)
- Massachusetts General Hospital (US)
- Harvard–MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (US)
- Imagineering (Japan) (JP)
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging (US)
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (DE)
- University College London (GB)
- Leipzig University (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Biology
- Published
- 2025-11-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-09108-2
- Primary Topic
- Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- Centre d'Imagerie BioMédicale
- National Institutes of Health
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital