Wounds of the Visual Pathway: Part Ii: The Striate Cortex

The representation of the visual field in the striate cortex (calcarine cortex, area 17) has received considerable attention. It is agreed that central vision is predominantly represented posteriorly and peripheral vision predominantly anteriorly, but the detailed representation is debated. Holmes (1918) from his study of head injuries in the first world war concluded that concentric zones from the fixation point to the periphery are represented serially in that order from the posterior to the anterior part of the calcarine cortex. Brouwer (1934) took the same view except that he believed that the area devoted to central vision protruded forward a considerable distance as a tongue in the intermediate part of the striate cortex between its