Visual Thalamus and Cortex

Magnocellular neuron layers

1-2

Parvocellular neuron layers

3-6

Koniocellular neuron layers

K1-K6

Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN) cells have —>

center surrond receptive fields (ON and OFF center)

Magnocellular LGN neurons connect with —>

V1 neurons in layer 4Ca

Parvocellular LGN neurons connect with —>

V1 neurons in layer 4CB

Koniocellular LGN neurons connect with —>

V1 neurons in layers 1-3

V1 cells are —>

orientation and direction selective

Simple cells

have receptive fields with distinct ON/OFF regions

Complex cells

have receptive fields with no distinct ON/OFF region

Higher order visual cortical cells

selective for complex objects or motion direction

Ventral/what pathway

V1, V2, V3, V4, IT, anterior temporal area

Dorsal/how pathway

V1, V2, V3, MT, MST, parietal areas

V2

respond to angles or the component lines that form preferred angles

V4

sensitive to form and color, sum of responses from V2

Middle temporal area (MT)/V5

responds best to stimuli moving in a particular direction