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1. Visual explanations prioritize functional properties at the expense of visual fidelity

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105414  

   Huey, Holly; Lu, Xuanchen; Walker, Caren M.; Fan, Judith E. (July 2023, Cognition)
2. Functional connectomics spanning multiple areas of mouse visual cortex

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08790-w  

   Bae, J Alexander; Baptiste, Mahaly; Baptiste, Maya R; Bishop, Caitlyn A; Bodor, Agnes L; Brittain, Derrick; Brooks, Victoria; Buchanan, JoAnn; Bumbarger, Daniel J; Castro, Manuel A; et al (April 2025, Nature)

   Abstract Understanding the brain requires understanding neurons’ functional responses to the circuit architecture shaping them. Here we introduce the MICrONS functional connectomics dataset with dense calcium imaging of around 75,000 neurons in primary visual cortex (VISp) and higher visual areas (VISrl, VISal and VISlm) in an awake mouse that is viewing natural and synthetic stimuli. These data are co-registered with an electron microscopy reconstruction containing more than 200,000 cells and 0.5 billion synapses. Proofreading of a subset of neurons yielded reconstructions that include complete dendritic trees as well the local and inter-areal axonal projections that map up to thousands of cell-to-cell connections per neuron. Released as an open-access resource, this dataset includes the tools for data retrieval and analysis^1,2. Accompanying studies describe its use for comprehensive characterization of cell types^3–6, a synaptic level connectivity diagram of a cortical column⁴, and uncovering cell-type-specific inhibitory connectivity that can be linked to gene expression data^4,7. Functionally, we identify new computational principles of how information is integrated across visual space⁸, characterize novel types of neuronal invariances⁹and bring structure and function together to uncover a general principle for connectivity between excitatory neurons within and across areas^10,11. 

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3. CRAFT: A Neuro-Symbolic Framework for Visual Functional Affordance Grounding

   Chen, Zhou; Lin, Joe; Aakur, Sathyanarayanan N (August 2025, Proceedings of Machine Learning Research vol 284:1–10, 2025 19th Conference on Neurosymbolic Learning and Reasoning)
4. Differential functional reorganization of ventral and dorsal visual pathways following childhood hemispherectomy

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101323  

   Ayzenberg, Vladislav; Granovetter, Michael C; Robert, Sophia; Patterson, Christina; Behrmann, Marlene (December 2023, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience)
5. Single neuron diversity supports area functional specialization along the visual cortical pathways

   https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.12.13.628359  

   Feyerabend, M; Pommer, S; Jimenez-Sosa, MS; Rachel, J; Sunstrum, J; Preuss, F; Mestern, S; Hinkel, R; Mietsch, M; Viyajraghavan, S; et al (December 2024, bioRxiv)

   Abstract Humans and other primates have specialized visual pathways composed of interconnected cortical areas. The input area V1 contains neurons that encode basic visual features, whereas downstream in the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) neurons acquire tuning for novel complex feature associations. It has been assumed that each cortical area is composed of repeatable neuronal subtypes, and variations in synaptic strength and connectivity patterns underlie functional specialization. Here we test the hypothesis that diversity in the intrinsic make-up of single neurons contributes to area specialization along the visual pathways. We measured morphological and electrophysiological properties of single neurons in areas V1 and LPFC of marmosets. Excitatory neurons in LPFC were larger, less excitable, and fired broader spikes than V1 neurons. Some inhibitory fast spiking interneurons in the LPFC had longer axons and fired spikes with longer latencies and a more depolarized action potential trough than in V1. Intrinsic bursting was found in subpopulations of both excitatory and inhibitory LPFC but not V1 neurons. The latter may favour temporal summation of spikes and therefore enhanced synaptic plasticity in LPFC relative to V1. Our results show that specialization within the primate visual system permeates the most basic processing level, the single neuron. 

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