Visual thalamus and cortex exam 2

Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN)

A part of the thalamus involved in the visual pathway that receives input from retinal ganglion cells.

Primary Visual Cortex (V1)

The area of the brain responsible for processing visual information, also known as the striate cortex.

Ocular Dominance

The phenomenon where some neurons in the visual cortex respond preferentially to input from one eye over the other.

Orientation Selectivity

The characteristic of V1 cells that allows them to respond best to oriented lines at specific angles.

Direction Selectivity

The property of certain V1 cells that respond preferentially to motion in a specific direction.

Simple Cells

V1 neurons that have receptive fields with distinct ON and OFF regions, contributing to orientation selectivity.

Complex Cells

V1 neurons that have receptive fields without distinct ON and OFF regions; they respond to stimuli at preferred orientation regardless of location within the receptive field.

Blobs

Regions in the V1 where cytochrome oxidase is concentrated; associated with color processing.

Magno-, Parvo- and Koniocellular Pathways

Different types of retinal output pathways that are segregated in the LGN and contribute to different aspects of visual processing.

MT (Middle Temporal Area)

A visual area also known as V5, involved in processing motion direction.

Visual Field Representation

In V1, the left hemisphere represents the right half of the visual field and vice versa.

V2 (Secondary Visual Cortex)

Visual area that responds to angles and component lines formed by preferred angles.

V4 (Fourth Visual Area)

Area of the visual cortex sensitive to form and color, responding to colored shapes.

Receptive Fields

Regions of visual space where the presence of a stimulus affects the activity of a visual neuron.

Center-Surround Receptive Fields

A characteristic of LGN cells where the center of the receptive field responds differently from the surrounding area.

Sensory Module of V1

Each module analyzes various aspects of the visual field, consisting of orientation mini-columns and ocular dominance columns.