Ch. 5.3. Parallel Processing in the Visual Cortex

Question 1

What is the ventral stream?

Answer 1

The ventral stream through the temporal cortex the perception pathway or the “what”pathway, because of its importance for identifying and recognizing objects.

Question 2

What is the dorsal stream?

Answer 2

The dorsal stream through the parietal cortex is the action pathway or the “how” pathway, because of its importance for visually guided movements.

Question 3

Suppose someone can describe an object in detail but stumbles and fumbles when trying to walk toward it and pick it up. Which is probably damaged, the dorsal path or the ventral path?

Answer 3

The inability to guide movement based on vision implies damage to the dorsal path.

Question 4

What lope is often damaged if a person has visual agnosia? The ______ pathway is also damaged?

Answer 4

The temporal lobe.. The ventral pathway

Question 5

In the inferior temporal cortex, especially in the right hemisphere we find the structure called the _____ ____, that responds more strongly to faces than to anything else..

Answer 5

fusiform gyrus

Question 6

People with severe problem to recognice faces are said to have _________, which might be a result of damage to the ______ _____, or from a failure of that gyrus to develop fully

Answer 6

prosopagnosia
fusiform gyrus

Question 7

For what items does the brain have specialized areas to recognice it?

Answer 7

he temporal cortex has specialized areas for perceiving places, faces, and bodies, including bodies in motion.

Question 8

The ability to recognize faces correlates with the strength of connections between which brain areas?

Answer 8

Ability to recognize faces correlates with the strength of connections between the occipital face area and the fusiform gyrus.

Question 9

When you move your eyes, why does it not seem as if the world is moving?

Answer 9

Neurons in areas MT (middle temporal lobe) and MST (medial superior temporal lobe) respond strongly when an object moves relative to the background, and not when the object and background move in the same direction and speed

Question 10

Under what circumstance does someone with an intact brain become motion blind, and what accounts for the motion blindness?

Answer 10

People become motion blind shortly before and during a saccade (voluntary eye movement), because of suppressed activity in area MT.