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Related Concept Videos

Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways01:22

Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways

At the molecular level, visual signals trigger transformations in photopigment molecules, resulting in changes in the photoreceptor cell's membrane potential. The photon's energy level is denoted by its wavelength, with each specific wavelength of visible light associated with a distinct color. The spectral range of visible light, classified as electromagnetic radiation, spans from 380 to 720 nm. Electromagnetic radiation wavelengths exceeding 720 nm fall under the infrared category, whereas...
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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...
Parallel Processing01:20

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...
Vision01:24

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.
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Visual Agnosia

Visual agnosia is a condition characterized by the inability to recognize visually presented objects despite having normal vision. For instance, a person with visual agnosia can describe the shape and color of an object but cannot identify or name it. This impairment does not affect their visual field, acuity, color vision, brightness discrimination, language, or memory. An example of this condition in a social setting is someone at a dinner party asking for "that silver thing with a round end"...
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Depth Perception and Spatial Vision

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A Gaze-Contingent Display Framework for Perceptual Learning Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss
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Disorders of higher visual processing.

Jason J S Barton1

  • 1Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology, and Visual Sciences and Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. jasonbarton@shaw.ca

Handbook of Clinical Neurology
|May 24, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The human brain

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Visual Perception

Background:

  • The human cortex dedicates substantial areas to visual processing.
  • Specialized cerebral regions outside the striate cortex process specific visual stimuli.
  • Damage to these areas results in distinct visual processing syndromes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To categorize and describe visual processing syndromes resulting from damage to specialized cerebral regions.
  • To differentiate between ventral and dorsal stream-related visual deficits.
  • To explore residual visual processing in cases of geniculostriate pathway damage.

Main Methods:

  • Clinical case study analysis
  • Syndrome classification based on lesion location (ventral vs. dorsal)
  • Review of literature on visual agnosias and visuospatial deficits
  • Examination of blindsight phenomena

Main Results:

  • Ventral stream damage (occipitotemporal) impairs object identification/recognition, causing syndromes like achromatopsia and prosopagnosia.
  • Dorsal stream damage (occipitoparietal) affects visuospatial processing/localization, leading to akinetopsia and Bálint syndrome.
  • Blindsight demonstrates residual visual function via subcortical pathways (superior colliculus) or alternate cortical routes despite geniculostriate damage.

Conclusions:

  • Visual cortex specialization leads to distinct syndromes upon damage.
  • Ventral and dorsal stream lesions produce classifiable object recognition and visuospatial deficits, respectively.
  • Subcortical or alternate pathways can mediate residual vision (blindsight) post-geniculostriate damage.