Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Vision

Vision

Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.

Parallel Processing

Parallel Processing

The brain processes sensory information rapidly due to parallel processing, which involves sending data across multiple neural pathways at the same time. This method allows the brain to manage various sensory qualities, such as shapes, colors, movements, and locations, all concurrently. For instance, when observing a forest landscape, the brain simultaneously processes the movement of leaves, the shapes of trees, the depth between them, and the various shades of green. This enables a quick and...

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

The cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer, is pivotal in processing complex cognitive tasks, emotions, and various sensory inputs and executing voluntary motor activities. This intricate structure is divided into three primary functional areas: the motor areas, sensory areas, and association areas.
Motor Areas
The motor areas located in the frontal lobe are central to controlling voluntary movements. This region is further subdivided into the primary motor cortex and the premotor cortex.

Visual System

Visual System

Light enters the eye through the cornea, a transparent, dome-shaped surface covering the surface of the eyeball that helps to direct and focus incoming light. This light is then channeled toward the pupil, an adjustable opening whose size is controlled by the iris. The iris, a pigmented muscle, regulates the amount of light entering the eye by contracting or dilating the pupil, thereby ensuring optimal light levels for clear vision.
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association areas are regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have a specific sensory or motor function. Instead, they integrate and interpret information from various sources to enable higher cognitive processes such as memory, learning, and decision-making. Some key association areas include the following:
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...

Anatomy of the Eyeball

Anatomy of the Eyeball

The eye is a spherical, hollow structure composed of three tissue layers. The outer layer — the fibrous tunic, comprises the sclera — a white structure — and the cornea, which is transparent. The sclera encompasses some of the ocular surface, most of which is not visible. However, the 'white of the eye' is distinctively visible in humans compared to other species. The cornea, a clear covering at the front of the eye, enables light penetration. The eye's middle layer, the vascular tunic,...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Friend, Not Foe: Lowered Tissue Reactivity to Long-Term Polyimide Implants.

Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)·2026

Same author

How the visual brain can learn to parse images using a multiscale, incremental grouping process.

PLoS computational biology·2026

Same author

Gestalt laws enhance the representation of figures over backgrounds in the visual cortex and influence contrast perception.

Scientific reports·2026

Same author

Friend, not Foe: Lowered Tissue Reactivity to Long-Term Polyimide Implants.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Large-scale mapping of artificial perceptions for neuroprostheses using spontaneous neuronal activity in macaque and human visual cortex.

Brain stimulation·2025

Same author

Modulatory feedback determines attentional object segmentation in a model of the ventral stream.

PloS one·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Published on: August 1, 2018

Different processing phases for features, figures, and selective attention in the primary visual cortex.

Pieter R Roelfsema¹, Michiel Tolboom, Paul S Khayat

¹Department of Vision and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. p.roelfsema@nin.knaw.nl

|December 7, 2007

Summary

The visual cortex processes images in stages, with neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) first detecting features, then separating figures from backgrounds, and finally selecting relevant objects.

More Related Videos

Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention

Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention

Published on: November 16, 2017

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Published on: May 12, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Published on: August 1, 2018

Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention

Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention

Published on: November 16, 2017

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Published on: May 12, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Visual Perception
Cognitive Psychology

Background:

The visual system organizes complex images into structured perceptions.
Psychological theories suggest hierarchical processing in the cortex: feature detection, object binding, and behavioral relevance selection.

Purpose of the Study:

To test psychological theories of visual processing.
To investigate the temporal dynamics of visual information processing in the primary visual cortex (V1).

Main Methods:

Electrophysiological recordings from neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) of monkeys.
Analysis of neural responses to visual stimuli at different time points.

Main Results:

V1 neurons initially register visual features within 48 ms.
Figure-ground segregation by V1 neurons occurs after 57 ms.
Selection of relevant figures over irrelevant ones by V1 neurons is observed after 137 ms.

Conclusions:

Psychological processing stages in vision correspond to distinct temporal episodes in the visual cortex.
The primary visual cortex (V1) plays a role in feature detection, figure-ground segregation, and object selection.