Sensory Systems Codexery

Visual cortex

Brain region processing visual information from the eyes.

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The primary visual cortex (V1) receives sensory input from the lateral geniculate nucleus and is also known as Brodmann area 17 or the striate cortex.[1] V1 is divided into six functionally distinct layers, with layer 4 receiving most visual input from the lateral geniculate nucleus.[2] Visual areas V2, V3, V4, and V5, which are also known as Brodmann area 18 and the entirety of Brodmann area 19, constitute the extrastriate areas.[1] Each hemisphere of an adult human's primary visual cortex is thought to contain, on average, 140 million neurons.[3]

A three-fold variation in the size of V1, V2, and V3 is possible, and this variation is partly heritable.[4] Ungerleider and Mishkin were the first to describe the "what vs. where" distinction for the ventral and dorsal pathways.[5] Two main pathways, the ventral stream and the dorsal stream, receive information transmitted from V1.[6] The ventral stream's route proceeds from V1 through V2 and V4, ultimately reaching the inferior temporal cortex.[6]

Goodale and Milner later proposed that the ventral stream is essential for visual perception, whereas the dorsal stream handles the visual guidance of skilled actions.[7]

Quick Facts

Latin
cortex visualis

Facts from the source article.

What the cited sources add

A 2016 Springer book titled "Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications" covers the ventral and dorsal stream pathways from V1.[8][6] A 1982 MIT Press book titled "Analysis of visual behavior" contains the original description of the what vs. where account by Ungerleider and Mishkin.[9][5]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Visual cortex" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Visual Cortex", School of Life Sciences: University of Sussex (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Visual cortex" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Laminar and columnar distribution of geniculo-cortical fibers in the macaque monkey", The Journal of Comparative Neurology, December 1972, p. 421–450; Churchland, "The Computational Brain", MIT Press, 1992, p. 149 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Visual cortex" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Changes in volume, surface estimate, three-dimensional shape and total number of neurons of the human primary visual cortex from midgestation until old age", Anatomy and Embryology, October 1994, p. 351–366 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Visual cortex" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Variability of the Surface Area of the V1, V2, and V3 Maps in a Large Sample of Human Observers", The Journal of Neuroscience, November 2022, p. 8629–8646 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Visual cortex" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Analysis of Visual Behavior", MIT Press, 1982, p. 549–586 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Visual cortex" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications", Springer, 11 February 2016, p. 377 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Visual cortex" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Separate visual pathways for perception and action", Trends in Neurosciences, January 1992, p. 20–25; "Size-contrast illusions deceive the eye but not the hand", Current Biology, June 1995, p. 679–685 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Open Library record, ISBN 9783319299716 ("Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  9. Open Library record, ISBN 9780262090223 ("Analysis of visual behavior"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Visual cortex (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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BrainEye

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Visual perceptionVitreous bodyPurkinje effectVisual phototransductionVisual fieldVisual processingSuperior colliculusTwo-streams hypothesisRetinal ganglion cellSaccadeRetinotopyLateral geniculate nucleus

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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