Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 272, Issue 1558, Pages 91-100Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2004.2925
Keywords
evolution; mammalian visual system; neocortex; retina; nocturnal; diurnal
Categories
Funding
- NEI NIH HHS [T32 EY007135] Funding Source: Medline
- NIMH NIH HHS [T32 MH019389, T32 MH19389] Funding Source: Medline
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Neural systems are necessarily the adaptive products of natural selection, but a neural system, dedicated to any particular function in a complex brain, may be composed of components that covary with functionally unrelated systems, owing to constraints beyond immediate functional requirements. Some studies support a modular or mosaic organization of the brain, whereas others emphasize coordination and covariation. To contrast these views, we have analysed the retina, striate cortex (V1) and extrastriate cortex (V2, V3, MT, etc.) in 30 mammals, examining the area of the neocortex and individual neocortical areas and the relative numbers of rods and cones. Controlling for brain size and species relatedness, the sizes of visual cortical areas (striate, extrastriate) within the brains of nocturnal and diurnal mammals are not statistically different from one another. The relative sizes of all cortical areas, visual, somatosensory and auditory, are best predicted by the total size of the neocortex. In the sensory periphery, the retina is clearly specialized for niche. New data on rod and cone numbers in various New World primates confirm that rod and cone complements of the retina vary substantially between nocturnal and diurnal species. Although peripheral specializations or receptor surfaces may be highly susceptible to niche-specific selection pressures, the areal divisions of the cerebral cortex are considerably more conservative.
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