Organized Visual Field Maps in Cloverleaf Clusters Span Higher-Order Object-Recognition Cortex

Visual field maps (VFMs) are a fundamental organizing principle of the human visual system, but their extent in higher-order visual cortex has been unclear. Using population-receptive-field modeling with phase-encoded fMRI, we reveal an extensive network of VFMs spanning and abutting the object-responsive lateral occipital complex. We identify ten novel VFMs, confirm two suspected cloverleaf clusters, and discover one entirely new cluster. These findings challenge long-held assumptions about the lack of spatial organization in these object-recognition regions. Our comprehensive mapping of twenty-two VFMs demonstrates that VFMs and cloverleaf clusters are organized with remarkable consistency across individuals, each with distinct anatomical locations, coherence levels, surface areas, cortical magnifications, and receptive-field sizes. By providing a robust visuospatial framework for localizing specific computational regions within object-responsive lateral-occipital human cortex, this work opens new avenues for investigating neural mechanisms underlying high-level visual processes and suggests cloverleaf clusters are a fundamental organizational principle of sensory cortex.