Specificity of intrinsic connections in primate primary visual cortex.

Several recent studies have suggested a patchy system of intrinsic lateral connections in area 17 of the macaque monkey. To see whether this pattern bore any relationship to the cytochrome oxidase blobs we made multiple tiny injections of horseradish peroxidase into layers 2 and 3 of area 17, small enough so that some of the injections (or their cores) were entirely inside a single blob, or entirely outside. When the injection centers were entirely in blobs, the label in layers 2 and 3 was transported preferentially to nearby blobs, avoiding nonblob areas. When the injections were in nonblob areas, the label was found predominantly in surrounding nonblob areas, avoiding the blobs. Besides this lateral transport, label was also present in the layers below 2 and 3: the label in layers 4 and 6 was very restricted, occupying roughly the diameter of the injection core and presumably representing axons of cell bodies at the injection site; in layer 5 diffusely labeled patches observed the same blob/nonblob segregation seen above layer 4.