Eye Mechanics Flashcards
What are the five main optic tract destinations?
- dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus
- superior colliculus
- accessory optic nuclei
- pretectal area
- retinohypothalamic tract
What is the function of the LGN projection destined for the occipital cortex?
It serves visual perception
What is the cause of loss of the LGN projection to the occipital cortex?
Essentially complete blindness - destroys visual perception
What is the main path of visual perception in the optic tract?
From the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus projecting to the occipital cortex
What is the function of optic fibers that project from the superior colliculus to the dorsal midbrain?
Saccadic eye movements that shift visual attention and head movements
What is the effect of loss of the superior colliculus?
Sluggish or impaired saccadic visual reflexes
What is the function of the optic tract from the accessory optic nuclei to the brainstem nuclei (dorsal and medial terminal nuclei)?
Important for optokinetic nystagmus (smooth eye movements)
What is the function of the pretectal area of the optic tract?
Pupillary reflexes (direct and consensual)
What is the function of the retinohypothalamic projection?
Regulation of circadian rhythyms
What is the pattern of decussation of nasal retinal fibers?
They decussate to the contralateral lateral geniculate nucleus
What is the pattern of decussation of the temporal retinal fibers?
They project to the ipsilateral LGN
Where does the upper retina project on the LGN?
Medially
upper retina = lower visual field
Where does the lower retina project on the LGN?
Laterally
lower retina = upper visual field
Where does the center of vision project in the LGN?
It projects to the caudal/posterior LGN
What is the structure of the LGN? What is the function of the layers?
It is subdivided into 6 laminae - 1, 4, and 6 get input from the contralateral eye; 2, 3, and 5 get input from the ipsilateral eye
Where does the lower visual field project onto the visual cortex?
Upper calcarine banks in the calcarine cortex (medial surface of the occipital cortex)
Where does the upper visual field project?
Lower calcarine banks (medial surface of the occipital cortex)
Where do optic nerves from the fovea project in the cortex?
Posteriorly with the visual horizon in the fundus of the calcarine fissure
What is the pattern of crossing of the radiations to the visual cortex?
Ipsilateral projection from the LGN (so contralateral overall from the eye)
What is the difference in the path of the LGN fibers for the lower and upper visual field?
lower field = direct parietal path to the upper bank
upper field = looping path (Meyer’s loop) antero-ventrally to the temporal lobe and then back to the lower bank
Where do geniculate axons of the visual pathway project?
To stellate neurons in cortical layer 4 (predominantly) and to a lesser extent layers 6 and 1
What are scotomas?
Blind spots labeled as “field cuts”
What is the relationship between visual field and retinal field?
They are inverted
upper visual field = lower retinal field
What is calcarine cortex magnification?
calcarine neural representation in the region of the macula is greater than proportional
What is the effect of calcarine lesions?
Blindness
What is the effect of extrastriate lesions? Temporal, parietal, and ventral occipitotemporal.
“psychic blindness” - inability to recognize objects
Temporal = deficits in memory, learning, and recognition
Parietal = visual inattention or visual neglect (right side)
Ventral occipitotemporal lesions = prosopagnosia (inability to recognize faces)
What is the difference between homonymous and heteronymous scotomas?
Homonymous = more posterior lesions (signals between both eyes are mixed)
Heteronymous = damage to early portions of the visual pathways (signals between eyes are segregated)
What visual field can temporal damage interrupt?
upper visual field deficits (interrupts Meyer’s loop)
What visual field can parietal or occipito-parietal damage disrupt?
lower visual field defects
What is a visual receptive field?
The region of the retina on which light must fall in order for the activity of the neuron to be affected
What is the effect of a spot of light in the center of an on center neuron? What about light around the center? Diffuse light throughout the cell?
On the center: high rate of discharge
Around the center: complete inhibition
Diffuse: minimal activity
What is the stimulation pattern for off center receptive fields?
They are excited by a dark spot in the center and inhibited by light spots in the center
What is the difference between the M path and P path from the geniculo-cortical system?
M-type = phasic, parietal, for spatial vision
P-type = tonic, temporal, for serving form vision
What is the difference betweens simple cells, complex cells, and hypercomplex cells?
simple = cells with orientation selectivity for stimuli
complex = cells that are orientation selective, but without the precise position selectivity of simple cells (on vs. off is a spectrum)
hypercomplex = cells with detectors that extract form information (ex. a “hand” cell)
What is the path of tonic (P-type) cells through to cortex?
calcarine cortex –> temporal visual cortex
What is the path of the transient (m-type) cells in the cortex?
They fire fast responses in response to visual stimuli
What is the “ventral stream”?
The pathways to the temporal cortex, also called the “what” or “perception” pathway
What is the “dorsal stream”?
pathways to the parietal cortex, “where” or “action” pathways
Where do neurons of the cortico-cortical paths? What do they do?
Neurons in cortex layers 2 and 3, they are important outputs for the visual system
Where do neurons of the corticotectal fibers originate from in the cortex? What do they do?
Pyramidal cells in layer 5 of the cortex, connects occipital cortex to the superior colliculus
What does the corticogeniculate pathway?
It originates in layer 6 of the cortex and sends axons back to the LGN
What is stereopsis?
Depth vision based on slightly different views of the visual scene obtained by the two eyes
What is the difference between convergent/crossed disparity sensitivity and divergent/uncrossed disparity sensitivity?
convergent = cells that respond best when images are shifted temporally (responds to near stimuli)
divergent = cells that respond best when images are shifted nasally (responds to far stimuli)
When the optic chiasm is sectioned in a sagittal plan from front to back, as can happen due to a pituitary tumor or a severe blow to the head, the resulting deficit is called “bitemporal hemianopsia.” Why?
a) because the section was complete and occurred due to a single event or at a single point in time, in contrast to the subjects studied by Mitchell and Blakemore
b) because the temporal lobes are damaged when this happens
c) because of the loss of visual information carried in Meyer’s loop
d) because the temporal visual fields (and therefore nasal retinas) of both eyes are blinded
e) because this deficit was first described as a result of a very different lesion, bilateral temporal lobe damage to the optic radiations underlying the cortex
d) because the temporal visual fields (and therefore nasal retinas) of both eyes are blinded
The vertical midline, or vertical meridian, of vision:
a) is represented along an anterior-posterior band of the lateral geniculate nucleus
b) is the dividing line between nasal crossing and temporal uncrossed optic fibers
c) is represented at the optic disc
d) is represented at the fundus of the calcarine fissure
e) separates the left eye’s view from the right eye’s view
b) is the dividing line between nasal crossing and temporal uncrossed optic fibers
Partial damage to the left lateral geniculate nucleus (to much of its extent but not all layers everywhere) might produce which visual perimetry results?
a) scotoma in left eye, normal right eye vision
b) scotoma in right eye, normal left eye vision
c) nearly homonymous but not identical scotomata of right visual fields of both eyes
d) nearly homonymous but not identical scotomata of left visual fields of both eyes
e) none of the above is possible
c) nearly homonymous but not identical scotomata of right visual fields of both eyes
After a head injury, a patient is found through visual field perimetry to be blind in the upper left visual field, with homonymous scotomas, the same when testing either eye. Which is the most likely region of damage?
a) left optic nerve
b) right optic tract
c) Meyer’s loop of the right optic radiations
d) the lower banks of the left and right calcarine fissures in area 17
e) the upper banks of the left and right calcarine fissures in area 17
c) Meyer’s loop of the right optic radiations
Based on your knowledge of visual pathways and cortical function, which kind of brain damage would be most likely to cause a loss of some visually-based memory and language skills along with blindness in one upper visual hemifield?
a) left temporo-occipital vascular accident
b) lateral thalamic vascular accident occurring bilaterally
c) pituitary tumor with pressure on the center of the optic chiasm
d) medial thalamic vascular accident
e) bullet wound to the dorsal occipito-parietal cortex, with damage to the upper calcarinecortex
a) left temporo-occipital vascular accident
Feature detectors are:
a) concentric center-surround, simple, complex, and hypercomplex neurons
b) lower-order hypercomplex neurons
c) detectors of visual patterns still more complex than those that excite hypercomplex neurons
d) hypothetical, their activity never having been actually recorded in the brain
e) all of the above
c) detectors of visual patterns still more complex than those that excite hypercomplex neurons
Disparity refers to:
a) double vision, as would stimulate binocular rivalry; often caused by astigmatism
b) bitemporal hemianopsia
c) inhibitory projections by complex neurons to create hypercomplex receptive fields
d) the sensitive period of development during which visual deprivation has a lasting effect on visual cortex neuronal responses
e) slightly different views seen by left and right eye (bases of steropsis)
e) slightly different views seen by left and right eye (bases of steropsis)
What is the main function of the ventral stream pathways?
a) visual perception
b) visual localization
c) visual attention
d) development of plasticity of visuomotor coordination
e) transfer of transient information about visual stimuli
a) visual perception
Mononuclear deprivation is:
a) monocular steropsis
b) the source of lamination in the lateral geniculate nucleus
c) ineffective, while binocular deprivation produces selective visual loss
d) a cause of reduction in ocular dominance column size in calcarine cortex
e) loss of cortical neurons representing an orientation notviewed during the critical or sensitive period of development
d) a cause of reduction in ocular dominance column size in calcarine cortex
What vision pattern would be produced by lesion 1?
Right eye blindness
What vision pattern would be produced by lesion 2?
Lateral (temporal) blindness (hemianopsia) in both eyes
What vision pattern would be produced by lesion 3?
Left sided hemianopsia
What vision pattern would be produced by lesion 4?
Left superior quadrantanopsia
An MRI of a patient shows a lesion in the medial portion of the right lateral geniculate nucleus, the lesion passing through all six layers but sparing the lateral parts of the LGN. Where is the visual field loss?
a) upper left quadrant
b) lower left quadrant
c) upper right quadrant
d) lower right quadrant
e) no loss
b) lower left quadrant
A patient complains of “missing things” visually, so you map visual fields and discover the patient cannot see at all in lower left quadrant. The patient appears to have vision in upper quadrant but only after repeated prompting, and it is possible that informal testing without control of eye movements is insufficient. Where is the lesion?
a) right temporal cortex and underlying optic radiations
b) right parietal cortex and underlying optic radiations
c) right fusiform cortex
d) right inferotemporal cortex
e) somewhere on the left, more tests needed
b) right parietal cortex and underlying optic radiations
What is the function of the parietal cortex in the visual system?
Site where sensory signals from visual system are transformed into motor commands