Retinotopic organization of human visual cortex mapped with positron-emission tomography.

The retinotopic organization of primary visual cortex was mapped in normal human volunteers. Positron-emission tomographic measurements of regional cerebral blood flow were employed to detect focal functional brain activation. Oxygen-15-labeled water, delivered by intravenous bolus, was used as the blood flow tracer to allow multiple stimulated-state (n = 5) and control-state (n = 3) measurements to be acquired for each of 7 subjects. Responses were identified by applying a maximum-detection algorithm to subtraction-format images of the stimulus-induced change in cerebral blood flow. Response locales were described using a standardized system of stereotactic coordinates. Changes in stimulus location (macular, perimacular, peripheral, upper-field, lower-field) caused systematic, highly significant changes in response locale within visual cortex. Discrete extrastriate visual responses were also observed.