A review on the inferior temporal cortex of the macaque

In our review, we summarize recent advances in the research of the inferior temporal cortex (ITC) of the macaque monkey. This area of the cortex is known to have a crucial role in visual shape recognition and is regarded as being at the end stage of the so-called ventral visual pathway. In the last decade, several new findings appeared in the field without being integrated in a coherent view about the function, position, and operating principles of the area. During this decade, experimental techniques developed a great deal, and the way we look at the brain and brain function changed too. In this review, we try to integrate knowledge about the ITC to the changing view about the brain while outlining the work that has been done in the last decade. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.