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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.

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...

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....

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 26, 2026

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

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

Published on: February 20, 2014

Task-dependent recurrent dynamics in visual cortex.

Satohiro Tajima^1,2, Kowa Koida³, Chihiro I Tajima⁴

¹Department of Basic Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.

|July 25, 2017

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Flexible task switching relies on attractor dynamics within the higher visual cortex, not just beyond it. This neural modulation enhances information processing for better perceptual decisions.

Keywords:

category central visual pathways color vision dynamical systems neuroscience population coding rhesus macaque task demand

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Computational Neuroscience
Cognitive Science

Background:

Flexible sensory-action association is crucial for animal behavior.
This flexibility has been linked to attractor dynamics outside sensory cortices.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the presence and role of attractor dynamics in the higher visual cortex during task switching.
To understand how neural population activity supports flexible perceptual abilities.

Main Methods:

Employed a nonlinear decoding approach to analyze neural population responses in macaque monkeys.
Utilized a computational model with nonlinear recurrent neural interactions and task-dependent input.

Main Results:

Identified task-induced bistable attractor dynamics within the higher visual cortex during task switching.
Demonstrated that dynamical modulation selectively enhances task-relevant information.
The computational model successfully replicated key experimental findings.

Conclusions:

Context-dependent attractor dynamics in the sensory cortex contribute to flexible perceptual abilities.
Higher visual cortex plays a direct role in supporting flexible cognitive functions.