DOI

https://doi.org/10.25772/8JPM-1972

Defense Date

2006

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Anatomy & Neurobiology

First Advisor

Dr. M. Alex Meredith

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that neuronal connections occur between primary auditory and visual cortices of the primate (Falchier et al., 2002; Rockland and Ojima, 2003), and it has been suggested that these projections are involved in multisensory processing in these lower-level, core areas of cortex. The present study was conducted to determine if similar connections occur in other higher mammals such as carnivores (ferrets; Mustela putorius). Large injections of sensitive neuroanatomical tracer were placed within the core areas of auditory cortex in 3 ferrets. After transport and processing, labeled axon terminals were found not in primary visual cortex, but in area 19, or V3. Injection of tracer into V3 of 3 additional ferrets produced retrogradely labeled neurons not in the core region of auditory cortex, but along its posterior borders. These data indicate that cross-modal connections occur in the ferret cortex, but do not support the notion that they exist between the primary representations of the different sensory modalities.

Rights

© The Author

Is Part Of

VCU University Archives

Is Part Of

VCU Theses and Dissertations

Date of Submission

June 2008

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