A Fovea-Like Representation of Space in Mouse Visual Cortex

Human retinas contain a fovea, a region of densely packed photoreceptors, which we rely on for detailed vision. Accordingly, the visual cortex of humans contains an overrepresentation of the fovea and cells in this region have small receptive fields. Mice lack a fovea, and consequently a cortical foveal representation, placing potential limits on the translation of research in mice to humans. Here we reveal a previously unsuspected organization of the visual cortex of mice that strongly resembles that foveal organization of human visual cortex. Using population receptive-field (pRF) mapping techniques, which allow estimates to be made of aggregate receptive field sizes, we found that mouse visual cortex contains a region in which pRFs are considerably smaller. This region represents a location in space directly in front of, and slightly above, the mouse. The similarity to the human visual cortex has important implications for the use of the mouse model of vision.