Chapter Six Flashcards
Transduction
physical stimulation –> brain activity
In humans, which sensation has more brain devoted to it?
Vision
In rodents, which sensation has more brain devoted to it?
olfaction
what exactly is light?
a wave of which we see a narrow range
Sclera
the white membrane on outside of eye; not transparent-no light can pass through
Cornea
transparant film on the front of the eye; one of the fastest repairing tissues
Iris
muscle that regulates amount of light that comes into the eye; changes size of pupil
Pupil
hole in the front of the eye
Lens
directly behind the pupil; focuses light waves as they come into the eye
Accommodation
the lens literally changes shape
Vitreous Humor
gel-like; allowed eye to keep spherical shape
Retina
nervous tissue; where light (which comes in right to left) gets focused
Retina is made up of three cell types
photoreceptors, bipolar cells, ganglion cells
Photoreceptors
very back of the retina; rods & cones
Bipolar cells
middle
Ganglion cells
front of the retina; axons make up the optic nerve
Rods
(120 mil) outside edge of retina; seeing with low light levels
Cones
(6 mil) middle of retina; color vision, visual acuity-seeing in detail
Pigment in the photoreceptors
Opsin (protein) and retinal (lipid)
What are the colors of cones?
red, blue, and green
What does contact with light do to the photopigment?
splits the photopigment
What does the split in the photopigment cause?
change in release of glutamate (excitatory) , which causes chain reaction
What is the end result with the photoreceptors?
ganglion cells are stimulated and these cells make up the optic nerve
Once the retina is stimulated, where does the nerve impulse travel?
- ) dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (thalamus) and 2.) optic radiations carry signal to the primary visual cortex (AKA striate nucleus)
Optic radiatons
the pathway from 1-2 (dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus–> primary visual cortex
Receptive Field
part of environment that stimulates neurons-group on retina; the part of the visual field that a neuron “sees”
Fovea
has the greatest concentration of cones; absolute dead center of the retina
How many ganglion cells does each cone have?
One
In the periphery, how many rods does each ganglion cell connect to?
there may be 10 rods to each ganglion cell
Why visual acuity is better at the fovea
Three varieties of ganglion cells
ON, OFF, ON/OFF
What do receptive fields look like?
they have a center that is surrounded by a ring
When you mix red, blue, and green light, what do you get?
White
Trichromatic Theory
we see color because we have three different kinds of cones
Where does perception come from?
the stimulation of cones (3 types)
How many of each color of cones are there?
Red and green equal each other, there are fewer blue ones
How are different colors seen?
because of different ratios and intensities; cones are stimulated in different ways
Color blindness
deficiency in number of cones of chemical
Protanopia
confusion of red/green; see world as yellows and blues
Deuteranopia
green cones filled with red photopigment
Tritanopia
rarest form; deficient in blue cones; see world as red and green
Ganglion cells
also involved in color processing; they follow a center-surround orientation
What explains negative afterimages?
ganglion cells; when stimulation is taken away, the other color in the pair rebounds
Primary Visual Cortex (striate cortex)
found next to calcarine fissure, occipital lobe.
What do cells in the primary visual cortex respond to?
specific bits of information
1/4 is devoted to fovea
Orientation of lines
different lines turn on different cells in the PVC
Retinal Disparity
because two eyes are separated; each eye sees a slightly different image; cells in PVS respond vigorously when each eye receives a slightly different image
CO blobs
further interpretation of color
Organization of PVC
organized in modules (columns)- 25,000 modules each with 150,000 neurons; 1/2 mm x 3/4 mm and analyze features from that part of the visual field
What does the PVC provide?
color, input to orientation, texture, disparity
Visual Association Cortex
this lies outside of the occipital lobe
Ventral Stream
WHAT-temporal lobe
Dorsal Stream
WHERE-parietal lobe
Form Perception
temportal lobe-ventral stream based; region combines info bout color, form, and dimension; neurons respond to 3D objects
Agnosia
disruption of form perception; cannot recognize visually-body makes appropriate gestures for object; can use other non-visual senses to recognize
Apperceptive Agnosia
cannot draw or copy
Associative Agnosia
can copy, but now draw from memory
Prosapagnosia
the recognition deficit is very specific to a certain object; can see individual features but cannot recognize; can use other sensory modalities to recognize (walk, etc.)
What does evidence show the right temporal cortex is most important for?
face recognition; faces may be special, as cases of object agnosia, but face recognition was left intact