6.2 How the Brain Processes Visual Information Flashcards
Lateral geniculate nucleus
Thalamic nucleus that receives incoming visual information
Lateral inhibition
The reduction of activity in one neuron by activity in neighboring neuron
Receptive field
The area in visual space that excites or inhibits any neuron
Horizontal cell
Type of cell that receives input from receptors and inhibitory input to bipolar cells
Parvocellular neurons
Small cell bodies with small receptive fields in or near the fovea
Magnocellular neurons
Large cell bodies with large receptive fields that are distributed evenly throughout the retina
Primary visual cortex (area V1)
Area of the cortex responsible for the first stage of visual processing
Simple cell
Type of visual cortex cell that has a receptive field with fixed excitatory and inhibitory zones
Koniocellular neurons
Small ganglion cells that occur throughout the retina
Sensitive period
Time early in development when experiences have a particularly strong and enduring influence
Strabismus (or strabismic amblyopia or lazy eye)
A condition in which the eyes do not point in the same direction
Retinal disparity
The discrepancy between what the left and right eyes see
Blindsight
The ability to respond in limited ways to visual infomation without perceiving it consciously
Complex cell
Type of visual cortex cell located in areas V1 and V2 that respond to a pattern of light in a particular orientation anywhere within its large receptive field
End-stopped (hypercomplex) cell
Type of visual cortex cell that resembles complex cells; responds best to stimuli of a precisely limited type, anywhere in a large reseptive field, with a strong inhibitory field at one end of its field
