Vision (chapter 2) Flashcards
how much of the human\s cerebral cortex is involved in the visual system
thirty percent (more than any other sense)
knoiwledge of how light enery is converted into electrical signals comes primarily from studies of…
Drosophiilia and mice
pathway
- light passes through the cornea (rigid cornea does the initial focusing)
- enters the eye through the pupil
- lense then bends the light so that it focuses on the inner surface of eyeball (sheet of cells called retina)
how dies tge iris regulate how mch light enters
by changing the sixe of the pupil
how does the lens brging near or far objcts into better focus on the retina
lens can thicken or flatten
visual input is mappend directly onto the retina as a two-dimensional reversed image
- objects to right project images onto the left side of retina (vice versa)
what happens after processing by specialized cells in the retina
signals will travel via optic nerves to other parts of brain to undergo further integration and interpretation
three types of neurons in retina
gangion cells, photoreceptors, interneurons
- communicate extensively with each other before information is sent to the brain
where are rods and cones located
- most peripheral layer of the retina
- light travels through the cornea lens then through the ganglion cells and interneurons before reaching the photoreceptors
true/false: ganglion cells repond directly to light
- false. They do not, but they process and relay information from the photoreceptors
what are the axons of ganglion cells
- they exit the retina togehter, and form the optic nerve
how many photoreceptors in each human eye
125 million
transduction
the process of converting one form of energy into another occurs in most sensroy systems
rods allow to see in dim light
cones allow u to cath fine detail and colour
- allows you to engage in activities that require a great deal of visual acuity
three type sof cones in human eye
- each are sensitive to a different range of colours (red, green, blue)
- sensitivties of these cones overlap, different combinations f the three cone’s activity coney info about ever colour
- mic red, green, and blue to generate millions of colours
where is vision the sharpest
- in the center of the retina because it contains many more cones than other retinal areas, sharper than in the periphery
fovea
center oft the retina
- small pitted area where cones are most densely packed
contains only red and green cones
- resolve very fine details
macula
immediately around the ffovea
- critical for reading and driving
leading cause of blidness in developed countries
- death or degeneartion of phptorceptors in the macula (macular degeneration)
macular region input
- each ganglion cell receives input (via one or more interneuons) from one or very few cones which allows u to see very fine details
margins of retina inputs
each ganglion ells receives signals from several photoreceptors
- convergeense of inputs = why periphereral vision is less detailed
receptive field
portion of visual space providing input to a single ganglion cell
what does visual processing begin with
- comparing the anounts of ligth hitting small, adjacent areas on the retina
- receptive fields of ganglion cells “tile” the retina which provides a complete two dimensional representation of the visual scene
how is the receptive field of a ganglion cell activated
when light hits a tiny region on the retina that corresponds to the centre of the field
when is the ganglion cell inhibited
when light hits the donut-shaeped area surrounding the center
- if the light hits both the donut shaped area and the hole (the entire receptive field) the ganglion cells respond only weakly.
what is the key to object-detection
- this inhibition ios the first way our visual system maximizes the perception of contrast which is jey
where do optic nerves travel towards
the back of the brain.. occippital lobes?
what happens at the optic chaism
information from the left sdie of retinas of both eyes continue on let side of brain
- info from right side of both retinas proceeds on the right side of the brain
what happens after the optic chiasm
- visual info is then relyed though the lateral geniculate nucleus (region of thalamus)
- then to primary visual cortex
primary visual cortex
- thin sheet of neural tissue located in the occupuputal oobe
- many layers, densely packed with cells
middle layer of pvc
receivese messages from the thalamus
- has receptive fields like those in the retina and can persevere the retina’s visual map
cells above and below the middle layer
- more complex receptive fields
- register stimulti shaped like bars or edges iwt particular orientations
- ex. specific cells will respond to edges at a certain angel or moving in a certain direction
what happens as visual information from the primary visual cortex is combined in other areas
receptive fields become more complex and selettive]
- some neurons at higher levels of processing respong only to specific objects/faces
where are visual signals fed into
studies in monkeys suggest several parallel but interacting processing streams
what are the rpocessing streams
dorsal (heads up to the parietal lobe)
basically the where stream, combines spatial relationships, motion, timing to create an action plan without need for conscious thought
ventral (down to temporal)
basically the “what” stream
integrates shape, colour with memories and experience for recognition puproses
what does the brain do during recognition
extracts info at several stages, compares with past experiences, passes to higher levels for processing
binocular vision
perceives depth or three dimensions because each eye sees an object from a slightly diff abngle
- only works if eyes’ visual fields overlap
- if both eyes are equally active and properly aligned
strabismus
- person with corssed eyes
- misses out on much depth perception
where is this visual info processed
visual cortex
strabisumus in children
- children with thic condition initially have good vision in each eye, but since they cannot fuse the images coming from both eyes, they
- start to favour one eye
- ## they often lose vision in the other