Comment on "universality in the evolution of orientation columns in the visual cortex"

Abstract

Kaschube et al. (Reports, 19 November 2010, p. 1113) argue that pinwheel density in three mammalian species follows a universal constant of π as predicted by their orientation-selective suppressive long-range connectivity model. We dispute their conclusions and suggest that a simple brain size - pinwheel density scaling law suffices in predicting the self-organized and disorganized orientation maps from primates to rodents.