Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM


Top Flashcards (Certified)
All Flashcards

Behavioral Neuroscience > How Do We Detect Light? > Flashcards

How Do We Detect Light? Flashcards

(94 cards)

Start Studying
1
Q

light

A

electromagnetic radiation
electromagnetic wave that we can detect (aka photons)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

what distinguishes the different colors of light

A

wavelength of light
red light= higher wavelength, lower frequency (moves slower)
purple/indigo light= lower wavelength, higher frequency

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

frequency

A

cycles per second (Hertz)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

some electromagnetic radiation we cannot detect

A

UV rays, infrared, etc.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

radio waves

A

higher wavelength, lower frequency
travels through the air, radio takes the wavelengths-> transforms them into things we can hear-> how we have a radio

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

human vision vs. dog vision

A

dogs don’t have the ability to see as many colors as we do
we only see colors based on the cones and number of cone receptor cells we have

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

dogs

A

2 cone receptor cells

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

humans

A

3 receptor cells

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

human vision vs. snail vision

A

snails see in black and white, but don’t see in the same acuity as humans
snails see within our visual spectrum, but with less acuity (shockness, clearness)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

acuity

A

clearness

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

human vision vs. gecko vision

A

gecko’s can receive and detect spectra that humans cannot see and protect
can see into the UV light spectrum (lower wavelength, higher frequency)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

pheromones

A

all mosquitos detect and if you get eaten, its cause you have sweet pheromones

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

human vs. snake

A

snakes can detect heat
see wavelengths (longer) than we can see, on the infrared spectrum

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

human vision vs. bird vision

A

can see shorter wavelengths (UV spectrum)
can see more bright things

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

human vision vs. mantis shrimp vision

A

12 photoreceptors that detect color vs. 3 photoreceptors in humans (3 colors)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

physics of light

A

white light is made up of the spectrum of all the colors (ROYGBP).. put white light into a prism, (rain causes) light bends at different angles depending on wavelengths-> see a rainbow
see the separation of white light into all of those colors

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

when we see colors

A

colors are being absorbed
black= absence of wavelength (0 photons coming into my eyes)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

packet of energy

A

photons, which are both particles and waves
energy from lights come into our eyes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

number of photons emitted by source

A

brightness
bright white light or dim white light (it will be white either way)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

frequency of photon waves

A

color
wavelengths determines the color

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

light -> vision

A

white light bounces off the background of the slide… wavelengths bounce off and come into our eyes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

black and red

A

black- no wavelengths bounce off
red- only red wavelengths are being bounced off and entering eye
all other color wavelengths are being absorbed, no red wavelengths to bounce back… apple looks black

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

shine only green light onto a red apple

A

green wavelengths get absorbed, no red wavelengths to bounce back… apple looks black

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Class Question: The frequency of light waves conveys information about ____, while the frequency of sound waves conveys information about ____
A. Color; loudness
B. Color; pitch
Wavelength or frequency of the light = color
C. Brightness; loudness
Brightness = number of photons
D. Brightness; pitch

A

B. color;pitch

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
structural features of the eye
cornea retina lens pupil iris
26
cornea refracts and is inverted
light entering the eye so that it is transferred to retina inverted top-bottom and reversed left-right
27
lens
focuses image on retina by changing shape
28
pupil
opening in the iris
29
pupil controls
how much light enters brightness optometrist dilates pupil by blocking acetylcholine transmission in iris muscles
30
retina has
photoreceptors visual processing begins in the retina
31
photoreceptor cells
rods and cones
32
rods
scotopic 1 photoreceptor, 100 million more common in peripheral parts of retina very high sensitivity-> respond in low light conditions, and saturated in bright light wavelength insensitive (gray)
33
cones
photopic 3 photoreceptors, 4 million more common in fovea low sensitivity-> only active under brighter conditions wavelength sensitive (colors)
34
fovea
center of the retina (more cones)
35
transduction
photoreceptor cells transduce light to electrical signals to chemical signals
36
transduction steps
light deforms rhodopsin in rods (photopsins for cones)-> releases transducin (like a G-protein)-> transducin activates PDE (phosphodiesterase)-> PDE reduces cGMP levels-> less cGMP causes Na+ channels to close-> hyperpolarization *1 photon closes hundreds of Na+ channels and blocks 1 million Na+ ions
37
light _____ the photoreceptor cell->
hyper polarizes-> leading to less glutamate release
38
cones have the same general mechanisms as
rods but, photopsins are deformed by specific ranges of wavelengths
39
three separate opsin proteins
three type of cones
40
color blindness
usually only can distinguish short wavelength from long wavelength
41
retinal cells include
photoreceptor cells bipolar cells horizontal cells amacrine cells
42
photoreceptor cells
release glutamate onto bipolar cells
43
bipolar cells
synapse onto ganglion cells, whose axons form the optic nerve fibers
44
lateral interactions
horizontal cells amacrine cells
45
horizontal cells
contact photoreceptor and bipolar cells
46
amacrine cells
contact bipolar and ganglion cells
47
bipolar cells integrate
a bipolar cell receives info from multiple photoreceptors, so can monitor and integrate what they are all "seeing"
48
two types of bipolar cells
photoreceptor cells steadily release glutamate onto bipolar cells light causes less glutamate release on-center vs off-center
49
on-center bipolar cells
turning light on in the center of the field (less glutamate) excites them
50
off-center bipolar cells
turning off light in the center of the field (more glutamate) excites them
51
bipolar cells release glutamate, which always...
depolarizes ganglion cells
52
What happens to an off-center bipolar cell when you turn off a light in the center of its field? A. It is inhibited B. It is excited C. Nothing
B. It is excited
53
ganglion cells integrate
a ganglion cell receives info from multiple photoreceptors (via bipolar cells), so can monitor and integrate what they are all "seeing"
54
ganglion cells receptive fields
on/off center surround ganglion cell
55
bipolar cell responses
changes in polarization
56
ganglion cell responses
action potentials
57
pathway to the brain
optic fibers pass through the retina
58
blindspot or optic disc
where ganglion cell axons (optic nerves) cross retina to enter the brain
59
ganglion cell axons-> optic chiasm
the optic nerves (ganglion cell axons) from each eye join at the optic chiasm
60
side of chiasm
some axons with stay on same side (ipsilateral) and some cross (contralateral)
61
visual fields
left and right visual fields
62
binocular vision
in the center region of visual field
63
depth perception
requires visual field overlap
64
in the end
all axons carrying information about the left visual field end up on the right and vice versa
65
which optic nerve fibers stay on the same side?
the temporal (lateral) retina views a shared part of the visual field, so those fibers stay on the same side
66
which optic nerve fibers cross?
the nasal (medial) retina views the non-overlapping part visual field, so axons cross over
67
Which retina (A or B) will detect the orange circle? Which side of the brain will information about this orange circle be received? A B
both retinas- orange circle is close to the middle B- left visual field is transferred to the right
68
optic fibers -> lateral geniculate nucleus
optic fibers (ganglion cell axons) pass through optic chiasm and synapse in lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN: part of thalamus)
69
lateral geniculate nucleus layers
the LGN has six layers each layer receives input from only one eye magnocellular & parvocellular
70
magnocellular layers
(1 and 2) receive information from rod cells depth and motion large receptive fields 1 from one eye, 2 from the other eye
71
parvocellular layers
(3 to 6) receive information from cone cells fine detail and color small receptive fields 3 and 5- one eye, 4 and 6- other eye
72
LGN-> primary visual cortex (V1)
LGN axons send information to the primary visual cortex (V1)
73
retinotopic (location) map in V1- topographic organization
V1 is retinotopically organized-> neighboring cells tend to receive information from multiple nearby ganglion cells V1 cells receptive fields are bigger than LGN fields
74
V1 "simple neuron" receptive fields
each "simple cell" monitors a small stripe of the visual field responds to bars and edges present in that location orientation matters- horizontal, vertical, slanted
75
V1 "complex neuron" receptive fields
each "complex cell" monitors a larger stripe of the visual field responds to movement orientation matters
76
complex V1 neurons receive from
simple V1 cells<- LGN cells<- V1
77
retinotopic maps in V1 allows for
detection of bars/edges and movement in spatial representation
78
a second level of topographic organization
ocular dominance column/slab
79
ocular dominance column/slab
vertical column of neurons in V1 that respond to one eye adjacent column of neurons respond to other eye same receptive field
80
third level of organization
orientation column
81
orientation column
vertical column of neurons that respond to rod-shaped stimuli of a particular orientation
82
two pathways of higher order visual processing
dorsal (where) pathway & ventral (what) pathway starts at the occipital lobe
83
ventral "what" pathway
V1-> V2 V2-> V4 V4-> IT
84
V1->V2
V2 combines information from multiple V1 neurons to build complex representations textures multiple actual features and some illusionary features filling in gaps of shapes
85
V2-> V4
V4 neurons respond to complex radial and concentric stimuli wavelength (color) specific receptive fields
86
V4-> IT
inferior temporal cortex responds to complex shapes, sensitivity to color and texture facial recognition (fusiform face area) prospagnosia or "face-blindness"
87
IT
inferior temporal cortex
88
What will a patient with damage to V4 be likely unable to perceive? A. the brightness of the lights on the roller coaster B. the color of the roller coaster C. the motion of the roller coaster
B. the color of the roller coaster
89
dorsal "where" pathway
V1-> V5 V5-> posterior parietal cortex
90
V1-> V5
V5 neurons perceive speed and direction of moving stimulus motion blindness
91
V5
medial temporal lobe
92
V5-> posterior parietal cortex
neurons tuned to spatial location of objects planned movements, visuomotor transformation
93
lesions in the posterior parietal cortex
hemi-spatial neglect visual->motor is biasing one side over the other (able to engage both sides when prompted)
94
What will a patient with damage to the medial temporal area (area V5) be likely unable to perceive ? A. the brightness of the lights on the roller coaster B. the motion of the roller coaster C. the color of the roller coaster
B. motion of the roller coaster

Behavioral Neuroscience (19 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions