Glob (visual system)

Globs are millimeter-sized color modules found beyond the visual area V2 in the brain's color processing ventral (also known as parvocellular) pathway. They are scattered throughout the posterior inferior temporal cortex in an area called the V4 complex. They are clustered by color preference, and organized as color columns. They are the first part of the brain in which color is processed in terms of the full range of hues found in color space.[1][2]

The term "glob" was proposed by Bevil Conway and Doris Tsao[3][1] on an analogy with the cytochrome-oxidase blobs of V1, an earlier stage in the hierarchical elaboration of color.[4] This also distinguishes them from other types of modules found elsewhere in the cerebral cortex such as face patches, and inferior temporal feature columns.[3][1]

  1. ^ a b c Conway BR, Tsao DY (2009). "Color-tuned neurons are spatially clustered according to color preference within alert macaque posterior inferior temporal cortex". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 106 (42): 18035–18039. Bibcode:2009PNAS..10618034C. doi:10.1073/pnas.0810943106. PMC 2764907. PMID 19805195.
  2. ^ Bohon, Hermann, Conway (2016). "Representation of perceptual color space in macaque posterior inferior temporal cortex (the V4 Complex)". eNeuro. 3 (4): ENEURO.0039–16.2016. doi:10.1523/ENEURO.0039-16.2016. PMC 5002982. PMID 27595132.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b Conway BR, Moeller S, Tsao DY (2007). "Specialized color modules in macaque extrastriate cortex" (PDF). Neuron. 56 (3): 560–73. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2007.10.008. PMC 8162777. PMID 17988638. S2CID 11724926. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2020-08-28.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Livingstone MS, Hubel DH (1984). "Anatomy and physiology of a color system in the primate visual cortex". J Neurosci. 4 (1): 309–56. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.04-01-00309.1984. PMC 6564760. PMID 6198495.