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Related Concept Videos

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

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.
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.
Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex01:23

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...
Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System01:11

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

The somatosensory system is the central and peripheral nervous system component that senses and processes touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and body position or proprioception. The process of sensation takes place at three levels:
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the stimulus...
Visual System01:26

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...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Automated Visual Cognitive Tasks for Recording Neural Activity Using a Floor Projection Maze
11:15

Automated Visual Cognitive Tasks for Recording Neural Activity Using a Floor Projection Maze

Published on: February 20, 2014

Cognitive neuroscience: scene layout from vision and touch.

Russell A Epstein1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. epstein@psych.upenn.edu

Current Biology : CB
|June 7, 2011
PubMed
Summary

The parahippocampal cortex and retrosplenial cortex activate when viewing scenes. This study reveals these brain regions also respond to haptic perception of scenes, even in individuals who are blind.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Sensory Perception

Background:

  • The parahippocampal cortex and retrosplenial cortex are known to be involved in processing visual scenes.
  • The role of these regions in non-visual sensory processing, particularly haptic perception, is less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether the parahippocampal cortex and retrosplenial cortex activate during haptic perception of scenes.
  • To determine if this activation occurs even in individuals with blindness.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity.
  • Participants (sighted and blind individuals) engaged in haptic exploration of various scenes.

Main Results:

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A Naturalistic Setup for Presenting Real People and Live Actions in Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience Studies
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A Naturalistic Setup for Presenting Real People and Live Actions in Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience Studies

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Last Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Automated Visual Cognitive Tasks for Recording Neural Activity Using a Floor Projection Maze
11:15

Automated Visual Cognitive Tasks for Recording Neural Activity Using a Floor Projection Maze

Published on: February 20, 2014

A Naturalistic Setup for Presenting Real People and Live Actions in Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience Studies
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A Naturalistic Setup for Presenting Real People and Live Actions in Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience Studies

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  • Both sighted and blind participants showed significant activation in the parahippocampal cortex and retrosplenial cortex during haptic scene perception.
  • Activation patterns were comparable between sighted individuals experiencing visual scenes and blind individuals experiencing haptic scenes.

Conclusions:

  • The parahippocampal cortex and retrosplenial cortex are not exclusively involved in visual scene processing.
  • These brain regions demonstrate cross-modal plasticity, supporting scene representation through haptic input in the absence of vision.