Variability of the Surface Area of the V1, V2, and V3 Maps in a Large Sample of Human Observers

How variable is the functionally defined structure of early visual areas in human cortex and how much variability is shared between twins? Here we quantify individual differences in the best understood functionally defined regions of cortex: V1, V2, V3. The Human Connectome Project 7T Retinotopy Dataset includes retinotopic measurements from 181 subjects (109 female, 72 male), including many twins. We trained four anatomists to manually define V1-V3 using retinotopic features. These definitions were more accurate than automated anatomical templates and showed that surface areas for these maps varied more than threefold across individuals. This threefold variation was little changed when normalizing visual area size by the surface area of the entire cerebral cortex. In addition to varying in size, we find that visual areas vary in how they sample the visual field. Specifically, the cortical magnification function differed substantially among individuals, with the rela-tive amount of cortex devoted to central vision varying by more than a factor of 2. To complement the variability analysis, we examined the similarity of visual area size and structure across twins. Whereas the twin sample sizes are too small to make precise heritability estimates (50 monozygotic pairs, 34 dizygotic pairs), they nonetheless reveal high correlations, con-sistent with strong effects of the combination of shared genes and environment on visual area size. Collectively, these results provide the most comprehensive account of individual variability in visual area structure to date, and provide a robust popu-lation benchmark against which new individuals and developmental and clinical populations can be compared.

Automated summary

This study quantifies individual differences in the functionally defined structure of early visual areas in the human cortex, revealing that the surface areas of V1, V2, and V3 vary more than threefold across individuals, with little change when normalized by the surface area of the entire cerebral cortex. Furthermore, visual areas vary in their sampling of the visual field, with substantial differences in the cortical magnification function among individuals. The findings from twin comparisons suggest a strong influence of shared genes and environment on visual area size and structure.