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

Depth Perception and Spatial Vision

Depth Perception and Spatial Vision

Depth perception is the ability to perceive objects three-dimensionally. It relies on two types of cues: binocular and monocular. Binocular cues depend on the combination of images from both eyes and how the eyes work together. Since the eyes are in slightly different positions, each eye captures a slightly different image. This disparity between images, known as binocular disparity, helps the brain interpret depth. When the brain compares these images, it determines the distance to an object.

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.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

The Human Visual Claustrum Responses to Physical Stimulus Properties and Subjective Content During Movie Viewing.

Human brain mapping·2026

Same author

Integrating neurobiological markers to prospectively predict adolescent non-suicidal self-injury and suicide attempts: a machine learning approach.

Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health·2026

Same author

Application of Electric-Field-Optimized Augmented Reality-Guided Neuronavigation in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.

Journal of clinical medicine·2026

Same author

Differential effects of attention and contrast on transition appearance during binocular rivalry.

Journal of vision·2026

Same author

Respiration recording for fMRI: breathing belt versus spine coil sensor.

Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)·2025

Same author

Fixating targets in visual search: The role of dorsal and ventral attention networks in the processing of relevance and rarity.

Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)·2025

Same journal

An expanded cortical map of von Economo neurons in the human medial prefrontal cortex.

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)·2026

Same journal

For better and worse: neural self-partner overlap during social feedback is associated with relationship satisfaction and depressive symptoms.

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)·2026

Same journal

Regions in the human inferior temporal gyrus are engaged in numerosity processing across visual stimulus categories.

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)·2026

Same journal

Differentiation of cortical areas: effects of free energy minimization with broken symmetry.

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)·2026

Same journal

Prior exposure to speech rapidly modulates cortical processing of high-level linguistic structure.

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)·2026

Same journal

Beta bursts in SMA mediate anticipatory muscle inhibition.

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 6, 2025

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Published on: May 12, 2019

Fast and functionally specific cortical thickness changes induced by visual stimulation.

Natalia Zaretskaya^1,2, Erik Fink¹, Ana Arsenovic^1,2

¹Department of Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Universitaetsplatz 2, 8010 Graz, Austria.

Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)

|July 3, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Visual stimulation can rapidly alter human brain structure, causing measurable gray matter enlargement. These rapid structural changes, observed within minutes, challenge previous assumptions about brain plasticity and stability.

Keywords:

MRI V1 cortex plasticity thickness

More Related Videos

Thinned-skull Cortical Window Technique for In Vivo Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging

Thinned-skull Cortical Window Technique for In Vivo Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging

Published on: November 19, 2012

A Large Lateral Craniotomy Procedure for Mesoscale Wide-field Optical Imaging of Brain Activity

A Large Lateral Craniotomy Procedure for Mesoscale Wide-field Optical Imaging of Brain Activity

Published on: May 7, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Sep 6, 2025

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Published on: May 12, 2019

Thinned-skull Cortical Window Technique for In Vivo Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging

Thinned-skull Cortical Window Technique for In Vivo Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging

Published on: November 19, 2012

A Large Lateral Craniotomy Procedure for Mesoscale Wide-field Optical Imaging of Brain Activity

A Large Lateral Craniotomy Procedure for Mesoscale Wide-field Optical Imaging of Brain Activity

Published on: May 7, 2017

Area of Science:

Neuroimaging
Neuroscience
Human Brain Anatomy

Background:

Structural brain characteristics are typically considered stable, changing slowly over time.
Recent studies suggest rapid structural brain changes, occurring within minutes or hours, challenging this notion.
The underlying mechanisms for these fast changes, such as hemodynamics, are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the functional specificity of cortical thickness changes induced by visual stimulation.
To compare these structural changes with blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activity.
To explore potential mechanisms, like hemodynamics, behind rapid structural brain changes.

Main Methods:

Utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure cortical thickness changes.
Employed a flickering checkerboard stimulus to induce visual stimulation.
Compared structural changes with BOLD fMRI activity in different visual areas (V1, V3).

Main Results:

Flickering checkerboard stimulation induced a significant cortical thickness increase (1.3%) at the gray-white matter boundary.
This thickness increase was functionally specific to the primary visual cortex (V1) and the retinotopic representation of the stimulus.
Thickness changes showed a slower time course than expected for hemodynamic explanations and were weaker in V3 compared to V1.

Conclusions:

Visual stimulation can induce rapid, functionally specific structural gray matter enlargement measurable by MRI.
Findings suggest that rapid structural brain changes may occur, but a hemodynamic explanation is unlikely.
This study provides evidence for dynamic structural plasticity in the adult human brain.