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.

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,...

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...

Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex

Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex

The somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobes is crucial for interpreting sensory data such as touch, temperature, and proprioception. The somatosensory cortex, situated in the parietal lobes, plays a vital role in interpreting sensory information like touch, temperature, and proprioception—awareness of body position. This specialized brain region features an organized structure wherein neurons at the top primarily process sensations originating from the lower body. In contrast, those at the...

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

A sub-Riemannian model of the motor cortex with Wasserstein distance.

Frontiers in computational neuroscience·2026

Same author

Pinwheels and phase fields

Comptes rendus biologies·2026

Same author

Functional architecture of M1 cells encoding movement direction.

Journal of computational neuroscience·2023

Same author

Emergence of Lie Symmetries in Functional Architectures Learned by CNNs.

Frontiers in computational neuroscience·2021

Same author

LGN-CNN: A biologically inspired CNN architecture.

Neural networks : the official journal of the International Neural Network Society·2021

Same author

Correction to: From receptive profiles to a metric model of V1.

Journal of computational neuroscience·2019

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Measuring Connectivity in the Primary Visual Pathway in Human Albinism Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Tractography

Measuring Connectivity in the Primary Visual Pathway in Human Albinism Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Tractography

Published on: August 11, 2016

Functional geometry of the horizontal connectivity in the primary visual cortex.

Alessandro Sarti¹, Giovanna Citti, Jean Petitot

¹Università di Bologna, Italy. alessandro.sarti@unibo.it

Journal of Physiology, Paris

|May 30, 2009

Summary

We developed a geometric model for the primary visual cortex

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Computational Neuroscience
Computer Vision

Background:

The primary visual cortex (V1) processes visual information through complex neural connections.
Understanding the geometric organization of these connections is crucial for explaining visual perception.

Purpose of the Study:

To present a novel geometrical model of the functional architecture of the primary visual cortex.
To elucidate the deep structure underlying visual processing tasks like boundary and figure completion.

Main Methods:

Developing a geometrical model based on neurophysiological and psychophysical data.
Modeling both co-axial and trans-axial excitatory connections within the visual cortex.

Main Results:

More Related Videos

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Published on: January 22, 2018

Monocular Visual Deprivation and Ocular Dominance Plasticity Measurement in the Mouse Primary Visual Cortex

Monocular Visual Deprivation and Ocular Dominance Plasticity Measurement in the Mouse Primary Visual Cortex

Published on: February 8, 2020

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Measuring Connectivity in the Primary Visual Pathway in Human Albinism Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Tractography

Measuring Connectivity in the Primary Visual Pathway in Human Albinism Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Tractography

Published on: August 11, 2016

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Published on: January 22, 2018

Monocular Visual Deprivation and Ocular Dominance Plasticity Measurement in the Mouse Primary Visual Cortex

Monocular Visual Deprivation and Ocular Dominance Plasticity Measurement in the Mouse Primary Visual Cortex

Published on: February 8, 2020

The model successfully describes the geometric structure of neural connections in the primary visual cortex.
The proposed geometrical framework explains mechanisms for boundary and figure completion.
The model provides insights into morphological structures like the medial axis of shapes.

Conclusions:

The geometrical model offers a unifying framework for understanding visual processing in the primary visual cortex.
This approach can explain how the brain constructs complex visual representations from basic inputs.