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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.

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.

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,...

The Retina

The Retina

The retina is a layer of nervous tissue at the back of the eye that transduces light into neural signals. This process, called phototransduction, is carried out by rod and cone photoreceptor cells in the back of the retina.

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...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 23, 2026

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) of the Visual Cortex with Wide-View Retinotopic Stimulation

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) of the Visual Cortex with Wide-View Retinotopic Stimulation

Published on: December 8, 2023

Link between orientation and retinotopic maps in primary visual cortex.

Se-Bum Paik¹, Dario L Ringach

¹Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|April 18, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Neural maps in the visual cortex may develop from retinal input. This study shows a link between orientation preferences and the retinotopic map in tree shrew visual cortex, supporting this theory.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Computational Neuroscience
Developmental Neuroscience

Background:

Primary visual cortex exhibits maps of neuronal preference for stimulus location and orientation.
The developmental origins and functional roles of these orientation maps remain largely unknown.
A leading hypothesis suggests orientation maps are seeded by spatial interference of retinal ON- and OFF-center receptive fields.

Purpose of the Study:

To test the hypothesis that retinal receptive field mosaics influence the development of cortical orientation maps.
To investigate the relationship between orientation preference singularities and the retinotopic map's cardinal axes.
To provide evidence for spatially structured retinal input as a blueprint for cortical map development.

Main Methods:

Computational modeling to predict the link between orientation singularities and retinotopic axes based on the interference hypothesis.
Experimental validation in tree shrew primary visual cortex.
Analysis of the spatial layout of orientation preferences around singularities of different signs.

Main Results:

The proposed interference mechanism predicts a specific relationship between the arrangement of orientation singularities and the retinotopic map.
This predicted relationship was experimentally confirmed in the primary visual cortex of tree shrews.
Findings support the role of spatially structured retinal input in shaping early cortical map organization.

Conclusions:

Spatially structured input from the retina likely provides a foundational blueprint for the development of cortical maps and receptive fields.
This mechanism offers a plausible explanation for the emergence of orientation maps in the visual cortex.
The findings suggest that similar principles of spatially structured peripheral input may shape other sensory cortices.