Human Retinotopic Mapping Using fMRI

Abstract

We present in this report a new method for the retinotopic mapping of the human visual cortex using fMRI. This fast method allow s to delineate any human's occipital retinotopic visual areas after 30 minutes in an MR scanner. Based on the known retinotopic properties o f the visual cortex and on the procedures described in the literature, we first detail the experimental protocol we used. We then present th e functional data analysis we perform to get the retinotopic angular maps. The algorithm to get a model of the cortical surface from the ana tomical MR image is also rapidly presented. We then show the retinotopic maps projected on the latter model and compare them with the litera ture. Lastly, we present the choices we made to delineate these areas and extract regions of interest that can be used for further studying the human visual cortical system.