Orientation domain diversity in macaque area V2

Single orientation domains in primary (V1) and second (V2) visual cortical areas are known to encode the orientation of visual contours. However, the visual world contains multiple and complex contour types. How do these domains handle such complexity? Using optical imaging methods, we have examined orientation response to two types of contours: real (luminance-defined) and illusory (inferred). We find that, unlike area V1, there are multiple types of orientation domain in V2. These include “real only” domains, “higher-order” domains (which respond to an orientation whether real or illusory), and other domains with nonmatching real/illusory orientation preference. We suggest that this plurality of orientation domains in V2 enables the complexities of local and global contour extraction.