W. Vanduffel et al., FUNCTIONAL IMPACT OF CEREBRAL CONNECTIONS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 94(14), 1997, pp. 7617-7620
Cerebral networks are complex sets of connections that resemble a ladd
er-like web of multiple parallel feedforward, lateral, and feedback co
nnections. This static anatomical description has been pivotal in guid
ing our understanding of signal processing within cerebral networks. H
owever, measures on both magnitude and functional significance of conn
ections are extremely limited. Here, we compare the anatomically defin
ed strengths of a set of cerebral pathways emerging from the visual mi
ddle suprasylvian (MS) cortex of the cat with measures of the function
al impact the same region has over distant sites. These functional mea
sures were obtained by analyzing the local and distant effects of MS c
ooling deactivation on deoxyglucose uptake. Relative to major efferent
projections from MS cortex that have a strong influence, projections
to early visual processing stages have weaker functional influences th
an predicted fi om the anatomy. For higher processing stages, the conv
erse holds: projections from MS cortex have stronger functional influe
nce than predicted from the anatomy. We conclude that these and future
functional measures, obtained using the same combination of technique
s, will furnish fundamental, new information that complements and exte
nds current models of static cerebral net works, and lead to more real
istic models of cerebral network function and component interactions.