ABSTRACTThe size and organization of primary visual cortex (V1) varies across individuals. Across neurotypical adults, V1 size varies more than twofold. Within individuals, surface area per unit of visual field – cortical magnification – varies with eccentricity and polar angle. Contrast sensitivity and cortical magnification covary with eccentricity, therefore it has been hypothesized that cortical magnification, specifically the number of activated V1 neurons, limits contrast sensitivity. Here, we quantify the relation between contrast sensitivity and V1 cortical magnification across observers and polar angle. We measured contrast sensitivity at four cardinal meridians in 29 observers. We then used fMRI to measure the size of V1 in the same observers, and the amount of surface area representing each of the four meridians (wedge-ROIs within 15° polar angle of the meridians, 1 to 8° eccentricity). We found that: First, an observer’s contrast sensitivity (averaged across polar angles) was predicted by the size of V1. Second, contrast sensitivity at each cardinal meridian was correlated with the surface area of the wedge-ROIs centered at the corresponding meridian. Third, increases in contrast sensitivity and cortical magnification at the horizontal compared to vertical meridian (horizontal-vertical anisotropy, ‘HVA’) were strongly correlated: a larger HVA in contrast sensitivity corresponded to a larger HVA in cortical magnification. These results reveal that contrast sensitivity and cortical magnification co-vary across observers and demonstrate a link between perceptual polar angle asymmetries and cortical anatomy. Broadly, the results show a link between visual perception and the idiosyncratic cortical organization of V1 in neurotypical observers.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTContrast sensitivity is a fundamental property of the human visual system, which indexes the limits of what one can detect or discriminate – the window of visibility. Contrast sensitivity varies with stimulus location on the retina and across observers. These variations are not well understood. Using psychophysics and magnetic resonance imaging, we tested the hypothesis that contrast sensitivity depends on the amount of responsive tissue in primary visual cortex (V1). Individuals with greater contrast sensitivity had a larger V1. Further, within observers, variation in contrast sensitivity across polar angle locations matched the variation in V1 surface area representing those locations. These findings demonstrate a tight link between visual perception and cortical anatomy, both within and among people.