Cody Allen with Prof. Anthony Jack (Dept. of Cognitive Science)

Quantitative Metrics for Describing Topographic Organization in Individuals

Visual areas in the brain of both monkey and man contain organized maps of the visual field. These maps can be measured using fMRI while participants view visual stimuli presented at different locations relative to a fixation point. However, current methods for topographic mapping are purely qualitative in nature, and involve using visual inspection to search for consistent patterns in pseudo-colored figures. We seek to develop a method of quantitatively describing topographic organization on the cortical surface, so allowing us to describe differences between individuals, and between distinct visual areas in occipital, parietal, and frontal cortex. In addition to developing quantitative metrics, more meaningful color-coded topographic maps will be created with the use of overlaid gradient fields. A goal of this research is to identify the neural basis for individual differences in visuo-spatial ability.