Wiley, Journal of Comparative Neurology, 11(522), p. 2576-2593, 2014
DOI: 10.1002/cne.23550
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We analyzed the organization of the somatosensory and visual cortices of the agouti, a diurnal rodent with a relatively big brain, using a combination of multiunit microelectrode recordings and histological techniques including myelin and cytochrome oxidase staining. We found multiple representations of the sensory periphery in the parietal, temporal and occipital lobes. While the agouti's primary (V1) and secondary visual areas seemed to lack any obvious modular arrangement, such as blobs or stripes, which are found in some primates and carnivores, the primary somatosensory area (S1) was internally subdivided in discrete regions, isomorphically associated to peripheral structures. Our results confirm and extend previous reports on this species, and provide additional data to understand how variations in dimensions of lifestyle can influence brain organization in rodents. J. Comp. Neurol., 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.