Lecture 7: Occipital Lobes Flashcards
Striate Cortex
the primary visual cortex (area 17, VI) in the occipital lobe
has a striped appearance when strained
Dorsal Stream
a visual processing pathway from the primary visual cortex to the parietal lobes
guides movements relative to objects
Ventral Stream
a visual processing pathway from the primary visual cortex to the temporal cortex for object identification and perception of related movements
Dynamic Form
the shape of objects in motion
Egocentric Space
a spatial location relative to an individual’s perspective
Allocentric Space
object location relative to another object, independent of the observer’s perspective and usually at a distance
Polysensory Neurons
a neuron within multimodal cortex that is responsive to both visual and auditory or both visual and somatosensory input
Bitemporal Hemianopia
loss of vision in both temporal fields due to damage to the medial region of the optic chiasm that serves the crossing fibers
Homonymous Hemianopia
blindness of an entire visual field due to complete cuts of the optic tract, lactal geniculate body, or area 17 (VI)
Macular Sparing
a condition that occurs only after unilateral lesions to the visual cortex in which the central region of the visual field is not lost, even though temporal or nasal visual fields are lost
Quadrantanopia
defective vision or blindness in one-fourth of the fovea (visual field)
Scotomas
a small blind spot in the visual field caused by small lesions, an epileptic focus, or migraines of the occipital lobe
Infarct
an area of dead or dying tissue resulting from an obstruction of the blood vessels that normally supply the area
Blindsight
the ability of patients with visual-field defects to identify at better-than-chance levels the nature of visual stimuli that are not consciously perceived
Ischemia
deficient blood flow to the brain due to functional constriction or actual obstruction of a blood vessel by a clot
Angioma
collections of abnormal blood vessels, including capillary, venous, and arteriovenous malformations, that result in abnormal blood flow
Visual Agnosia
an impairment in the recognition of visually presented objects that is not a result of a deficit in visual acuity or language
Optic Ataxia
a deficit in visually guided hand movements that cannot be ascribed to motor, somatosensory, or visual field or visual-acuity deficits
Propagnosia
a facial-recognition deficit not explained by defective acuity or reduced consciousness or alertness
rare in pure form and thought to be secondary to right parietal lesions or bilateral lesions
Alexia
inability to read
Apperceptive Agnosia
a broad category of visual agnosias in which elementary sensory functions appear intact but a perceptual deficit prevents object recognition
Simultagnosia
an agnosia symptom in which a person is unable to perceive more than one object at a time
Associative Agnosia
inability to recognize or identify an object, despite its apparent perception
Topographic Disorientation
following brain injury, a gross disability in finding one’s way in relation to salient environment cues
likely due to topographic agnosia and amnesia
What is the medial surface of the occipital lobe?
parieto-occipital sulcus
calcarine sulcus/fissure: contains much of primary visual cortex, separates upper and lower visual fields