Chapter 4 Flashcards
(34 cards)
Retinotopic Map
- points on the retinal image to cause activity ( visual cortex in occipital lobe)
- fovea has greater representation in the cortex (cortical magnification)
Cortical Magnification
better representation in the cortex
- 0.01% retina —> 8-10% cortex
- fMRI
fMRI
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging
- brain imaging technique
- blood flow will increase activated brain areas
- Hemoglobin protein will carry O2 and contains iron which has magnetic properties
- detects changes in magnetic response of hemoglobin
Visual field when light is near the center
the illuminated will be small (near fovea)
- when interpreting the brain will see it magnified
Visual field when light is far from center
illuminated the large area (near peripheral retina)
Why does the illuminated occur??
- extra cortical space allotted provides extra neural processing
– tasks needing high visual acuity (sharp, focus)
– Ex: painting, driving, fishing, sports - closer to the dot = closer to the fovea
Organization of Neurons
- Functional Organization
- Pathways for information about what and where
Functional Orgzanization
- neurons are organized in terms of their functions
- serve similar functions tend to be connected together into pathways
- organized in a systematic way
Pathways for information about What and Where
- 2 pathways serving different functions
- information transmitted from striate cortex to other areas of brain
- monkeys used to understand organization of the brain
Object Discrimination Task
- monkey sampling, having a delay, then a food reinforcer if matching object correctly
- told to move shape away from the disc
- then to pick the correct shape they had originally seen
- overtime accuracy became worse based on the length of delay
Effects of Ablation of Performance
- Ablation is the damage/removal of the brain
- Temporal and Parietal Lobes are removed separately on different monkeys
Temporal Ablation
- performed worse on task and had a decline in performance reaching chance much faster
Parietal Ablation
- was nearly the same as original testing
The What Pathway
- determining an object’s identity (object determination task)
- visual cortex (striate cortex) –> temporal lobe
- Called ventral pathway (lower part of the brain)
Landmark Discrimination Task
- participant must move the block to indicate where the food is hidden under
Effect of Ablation on Performance (Landmark Task)
- Temporal removed = near close performance as the baseline
- Parietal removed = dramatic decrease in performance and needing to guess
The Where Pathway
- determining an object’s location (landmark task)
- visual cortex (striate cortex) –> Parietal lobe
- dorsal pathway (upper surface of the brain)
For BOTH What and Where Pathways
- origin in the retina (2 types of ganglion cells)
- Retina –> lateral geniculate nucleus (thalamus)
– ganglion cells transmits info to different layers of the thalamus - Serve various functions with interconnections
– need to know and coordinate what and where to function in life - Receive feedback from higher brain areas
– mechanism behind top-down processing (frontal lobe/prefrontal cortex)
Where (dorsal) pathway also is the How or Action pathway
- Neuropsychology: effects of brain damage on behavior in humans
- Patient DF: damage to ventral pathway after gas leak/CO poisoning
– could not judge orientation because of damage to what pathway
Perception vs action in people w/o brain damage
- looking at 2 lines with a background that makes us perceive that one line is longer than the other when in reality the other line is longer
- using length estimation sensors for measurement
- proces illusion in participants
- with grasping, illusion goes away
Different Mechanisms
- perception and action have different mechanisms
- people w/ brain damage
- people w/o brain damage
People with Brain Damage (mechanisms)
- ventral/what pathway damaged –> CANNOT judge orientation but can do an action (mailing letter)
- dorsal/where/how pathway damaged –> CAN judge orientation but cannot do coordinated action (mailing letter)
People without brain damage
- perception (length estimation) involves ventral/what pathway “what the lines are”
- action (grasping) involves dorsal/where/how
Modularity
- specific areas of the cortex that are specialized to respond and process specific types of stimuli