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. 1991 Sep 1;88(17):7572–7575. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.17.7572

Stimulus selectivity and state dependence of activity in inferior temporal cortex of infant monkeys.

H R Rodman 1, J P Skelly 1, C G Gross 1
PMCID: PMC52343  PMID: 1881897

Abstract

Inferior temporal cortex is necessary for visual object recognition in adult primates but is less critical in infants. Nonetheless, in macaques as young as 6 weeks old, inferior temporal neurons showed adult-like visual response properties, including form selectivity and bilateral receptive fields, indicating that extended maturation and visual experience may not be necessary for adult-like encoding of complex objects. However, before the animals were 4 months old, visual responsiveness was found in inferior temporal cortex only in awake monkeys performing a behavioral task and not in anesthetized ones, suggesting that extraretinal factors profoundly influence function in "association" cortex in developing as well as mature animals.

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Selected References

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