Pattherns of cytochrome oxidase activity in the visual cortex of a South American opossum

The normal pattern of cytochrome oxidase (CO) activity in the posterior cortical areas of the South American opossum (Didelphis marsupialis aurita) was assessed both in horizontal section of flattened cortices and in transversal cortical sextions. the tangential distribution of CO activity was uniformly high in the strate cortex. In the peristriate region alternating bands of dense and weak staining occupied all the cortical layers with the exception of layer I. This observation suggests the existence of a functional segregation of visual processing in the peristriate cortex of the opossum similar to that present in phylogenetically more recent groups