Modular strategy for development of the hierarchical visual network in mice

Hierarchical and parallel networks are fundamental structures of the mammalian brain^1–8. During development, lower- and higher-order thalamic nuclei and many cortical areas in the visual system form interareal connections and build hierarchical dorsal and ventral streams^9–13. One hypothesis for the development of visual network wiring involves a sequential strategy wherein neural connections are sequentially formed alongside hierarchical structures from lower to higher areas^14–17. However, this sequential strategy would be inefficient for building the entire visual network comprising numerous interareal connections. We show that neural pathways from the mouse retina to primary visual cortex (V1) or dorsal/ventral higher visual areas (HVAs) through lower- or higher-order thalamic nuclei form as parallel modules before corticocortical connections. Subsequently, corticocortical connections among V1 and HVAs emerge to combine these modules. Retina-derived activity propagating the initial parallel modules is necessary to establish retinotopic inter-module connections. Thus, the visual network develops in a modular manner involving initial establishment of parallel modules and their subsequent concatenation. Findings in this study raise the possibility that parallel modules from higher-order thalamic nuclei to HVAs act as templates for cortical ventral and dorsal streams and suggest that the brain has an efficient strategy for the development of a hierarchical network comprising numerous areas.