Sensory Systems Flashcards
Amacrine Cells:
Retinal cells that modulate the connection between bipolar and ganglion cells.
Bipolar Cells:
Retinal cells that receive input from photoreceptors and synapse with ganglion cells.
Blindsight:
The ability to respond to visual stimuli without conscious awareness, often observed after damage to the primary visual cortex (V1).
Cones:
Photoreceptors concentrated in the fovea, responsible for colour vision and high acuity vision in bright light.
Dorsal Stream:
The “where” or “how” pathway in visual processing, involved in spatial awareness and visually guided actions.
Fovea:
The central region of the retina with the highest concentration of cones, responsible for sharp central vision.
Ganglion Cells:
Retinal cells that receive input from bipolar cells; their axons form the optic nerve.
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN):
The primary relay centre for visual information in the thalamus.
Optic Chiasm:
The point at which the optic nerves from each eye partially cross over to the opposite side of the brain.
Opponent-Process Theory:
A theory of colour vision proposing that we perceive colour in terms of opposing pairs (red-green, blue-yellow, black-white).
Photoreceptors:
Sensory receptors in the retina (rods and cones) that transduce light into neural signals.
Retina:
The light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye containing photoreceptors.
Retinex Theory:
A theory of colour vision suggesting that the cortex compares information from different parts of the retina to determine colour perception, taking into account variations in lighting.
Rods:
Photoreceptors distributed mainly in the peripheral retina, responsible for vision in dim light.
Trichromatic Theory:
A theory of colour vision proposing that colour perception is based on the activity of three types of cones sensitive to different wavelengths of light.
