Section 3 Flashcards
TRUE/FALSE
Mapping of the visual field is preserved in the primary visual cortex
TRUE
What type of vision has the most cortical space?
Central vision
What is cortical magnification?
The idea that about 50% of V1 is dedicated to 1% of our visual field - the central region of our visual field
What is a consequence of cortical magnification?
visual crowding
what is visual crowding?
Because not as much cortical space is dedicated to the periphery, the reduced visual acuity produces a clutter effect where it becomes more difficult to distinguish one object from another
Which neurons perceive line orientation?
Neurons in V1
How are V1 cells spatially organized?
They organize their center-surround inputs into lines to display an elongated receptive field of a specific orientiation
Where are simple cells located?
Layer 4B of area V1
What layer of V1 do simple cells receive input from?
4C
What determines the firing rate of a simple cell in area V1?
How aligned the light is with the orientation of its receptive field
What is selective adaptation?
When you are exposed to a certain line orientation for an extended period of time, cells whose receptive field align with it will first fire rapidly but with time will adapt and fire less
What is population coding?
the idea that there is a large population of neurons in V1 that will determine your subjective perception of line orientation
Why is it that if you selectively adapt to a 45 degree line orientation you start seeing the line in the opposite direction?
The selective adaptation of neurons will depend on how close their preferred line orientation is to 45 degrees. Overall, this will affect the firing rates across the distribution but more so to those neurons closer to 45 degrees. Neurons beyond 90 degrees are much less affected, so their firing rate remains almost the same while neurons below that are damped, hence we start seeing the line in the opposite orientation
Besides line orientation, what else do neurons in V1 respond to?
directional motion, binocularity, and color sensitivity
Complex cells respond to what?
Motion
Which layers of area V1 have complex cells?
2,3,5,6
TRUE/FALSE
Complex cells do not have a preferential motion orientation
FALSE
How does the receptive field of complex cells compare to that of simple cells?
Complex cells have much larger receptive fields
What are end-stopped cells?
respond to moving light bars of a specific length
What happens if the length of the light bar is longer than the receptive field of the end-stopped cell?
The cell will not fire
What is the main function of end-stopped cells?
Size perception
What does it mean for a V1 neuron to be perfectly binocular?
Will show twice the activity when both eyes are exposed to light compared to only one eye being exposed
Type 1 neurons in V1 are driven exclusively by _________
the contralateral eye
Type 7 neurons in V1 are driven exclusively by _______
the ipsilateral eye
Types 2-6 neurons in V1 display _________
a gradient of ocular dominance
Type 4 neurons in V1 show _______
equal preference to both eyes
Which neuron type allows for depth perception?
Binocular neurons
How are cells typically organized in the visual cortex?
They are grouped together based on their degree of ocular dominance
If you insert an electrode ________ to the cortex you will record neurons of the same ocular dominance, but if you insert it ________ you will encounter neurons of different degrees of ocular dominance
perpendicular, oblique
How are cells organized within an ocular dominance column?
Cells selective to a particular orientation are organized into smaller columns, but each ocular dominance column has all the possible orientations represented
What are blobs and interblobs important for?
Blobs = color perception interblobs = orientation selectivity
What is a hypercolumn?
A 1 mm block of area V1 that contains all the machinery necessary for the perception of all the features of a stimulus in a specific area of the visual field
What is the extrastriate cortex?
brain regions bordering the PVC that contains other areas involved in visual processing (V2, V3, V4)
How is visual processing split after the extrastriate cortex?
into the “what” and “where” pathways
Describe the “Where” pathway
Concerned with the locations and shapes of objects, but not their names or functions
Describe the “What” pathway
Concerned with the names and functions of objects regardless of location
The dorsal “where” pathway is associated with information coming from ________ cells
magnocellular
The ventral “what” pathway is associated with information coming from _________ cells
Parvocellular
How does receptive field size and complexity change across the visual cortex?
From V1 to higher areas, receptive fields get larger and more complex
What is boundary ownership?
Being able to tell that an edge belongs to a specific object in the image
Neurons in which area of V1 can detect boundary ownership?
V2 neurons
What do neurons in V4 respond to?
Concave, convex, or straight edges
Are V4 neurons selective to the shape they will respond to?
Yes, their response will be along a gradient