Visual Processing and Eye Anatomy

Flashcards covering key concepts related to visual processing and eye anatomy based on lecture notes.

Cornea

Smooth outer tissue of the eye that light passes through first, bending the light.

Pupil

Hole in the colored part of the eye (iris) that controls the amount of light entering the eye.

Retina

Layer of light-sensitive tissue lining the back of the eyeball; it contains photoreceptors that transduce light into electrical signals.

Accommodation

The process by which the eye maintains a clear image on the retina by changing the shape of the lens.

Myopia

Also known as nearsightedness; occurs when the eyeball is too long, causing images to focus in front of the retina. (harder to see far)

Hyperopia

Also known as farsightedness; occurs when the eyeball is too short, causing images to focus behind the retina. (Harder to see close up)

Cones

Photoreceptor cells in the retina that detect color and operate under normal daylight conditions.

Rods

Photoreceptor cells that become active only under low-light conditions, more sensitive than cones but provide no information about color.

Fovea

Area of the retina where vision is clearest and contains no rods, only densely packed cones.

Optic Nerve

Bundle of axons from retinal ganglion cells that transmit visual information from the retina to the brain.

Blind Spot

Location in the visual field that produces no sensation on the retina due to a lack of photoreceptors.

Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN)

Part of the thalamus that processes visual information before it reaches the visual cortex.

Visual Pathway- sequence of connections

The sequence of neural connections from the retina to the brain, involving ganglion cells, the thalamus, and the occipital lobe.

Ventral Stream

The lower visual pathway that identifies an object's shape and identity, referred to as the 'what' pathway.

Dorsal Stream

The upper visual pathway that identifies where an object is and how it is moving, referred to as the 'where' pathway.

Binding Problem

The challenge of how the brain integrates features from different parts of the visual field to perceive unified objects.

Photoreceptor cells in retina

Contain light sensitive proteins that absorb light and transduce it into electrical signals. 2 types- cones and rods