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Clinical and Cognitive Neuropsychology > Lecture 2: Neuropsychology of visual processing and Agnosia > Flashcards

Lecture 2: Neuropsychology of visual processing and Agnosia Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the Retina?

A

The light sensitive area of the eye located at the back

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2
Q

What is the Retina made up of?

A

It is made up of:
- Photoreceptors
- Rods
- Cones
- Ganglion Cells

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3
Q

What are the two types of Photoreceptor cells?

A

Rods and Cones

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4
Q

What cell comes after photoreceptors?

A

Ganglion cells

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5
Q

What is a Rod in charge of?

A

Responsible for vision in low light conditions, they provide monochromatic vision

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6
Q

What are cones in charge of?

A

Colour vision and high-acuity vision in well-lit areas

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7
Q

What is an optic nerve?

A

A paired cranial nerve that transmits visual information from the retina to the brain

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8
Q

What is a Ganglion Cell?

A

They receive signals from the photoreceptors. Their axons form the optic nerve

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9
Q

What are the two main visual pathways?

A

Tecto-Pulvinar Pathways
Geniculo-Striatal Pathway

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10
Q

What do each of the visual pathways do?

A
  • Tecto-Pulvinar Pathway = An ancient pathway that bypasses the visual cortex and connects the retina to the superior colliculus.
  • Geniculo- Striatal pathway = It processes detailed information and is dominant in humans
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11
Q

What is the superior colliculus?

A

A midbrain structure that processes sensory information, particularly visual and coordinates motor responses

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12
Q

What is the path of the Geniculo-striatal pathway?

A

Retina -> Lateral geniculate nucleus -> Primary visual cortex

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13
Q

What is the Tecto-Pulvinar Pathway important for?

A

Reflexive eye movement and spatial attention

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14
Q

What is cortical blindness?

A

It is the loss of conscious vision despite functioning eyes

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15
Q

How is cortical blindness caused?

A

brain damage; specifically lesions in the primary visual cortex

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16
Q

What are the three different types of cortical blindness?

A
  • Hemianopia
  • Scotoma
  • Blindsight
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17
Q

What does each form of cortical blindness mean?

A
  • Hemianopia = Loss of vision in half of your visual field due to damage to the entire contralateral visual cortex
  • Scotoma = Loss of vision in a specific spot of the visual field
  • Blindsight = The ability to detect and respond to visual stimuli despite a lack of awareness of having seen anything
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18
Q

What is the ventral stream?

A

A brain pathway primarily involved in visual object recognition and perception, processing information about an objects features like colour, shape and texture leading to it’s identification

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19
Q

What are the key components of the ventral stream?

A
  • Infero-Temporal areas
  • Ventral Anterior Area
  • Middle Temporal Area
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20
Q

What is the Infero-Temporal area made of?

A
  • Posterior Inferotemporal Cortex (PIT) = Involved in early object recognition
  • Anterior Inferotemporal cortex (AIT) = Higher order processing of object identity, including complex features like faces
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21
Q

What does ‘IT’ stand for

A

Infero-Temporal areas

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22
Q

What does the PIT and AIT stand for and do?

A
  • PIT = Posterior Infertemporal cortex
  • AIT = Anterior Infertemporal cotex
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23
Q

What does the VA stand for?

A

Ventral Anterior Area

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24
Q

What does the VA do?

A

It is involved in further processing of object features, contributing to recognition and categorisation

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25
What does MT stand for?
Middle Temporal Area
26
What does MT do
Plays a role in motion perception and object tracking. It is crucial for detecting the direction and speed of moving stimuli
27
What does V1 stand for?
Primary visual Cortex
28
What do neurons in V1 have?
Small receptive fields
29
What does having a small receptive field mean?
Can only process local details of an object (edges, orientation etc)
30
What are the V1 neurons crucial for?
For early feature detection
31
What do V1 neuros not process?
Entire Objects
32
What do V4 neurons process?
Larger portions of the visual field
33
What do V4 neurons analyse?
The spatial relationships between object parts which helps in the recognition of more complex shapes
34
What do V4 neurons often include?
The midline of visual space which allows for more holistic perception
35
What is the midline of the visual space?
The imaginary vertical line that bisects the visual field
36
What is holistic perception?
Viewing objects or faces as a whole rather than as a collection of separate features
37
Beyond V4 neurons, what is offered by cells in the Ventral stream?
- No retinatopic mapping - Form-Cue invariance - Perceptual constancy
38
What is form-cue invariance?
When the brain recognises the same object whether it is a photo/drawing/silhouette
39
What is spatial mapping?
The mental representation of an environment, allowing individuals to navigate, remember locations and plan routes.
40
What is perceptual constancy?
When the brain identifies an object despite changes in position, size or viewpoint
41
What is sparse coding?
A neural representation where a small number or neurons are active, whilst the majority remain inactive, representing a particular stimulus or concept
42
What is population coding?
The brain's method of representing information, through the combined activity of a group (or population) of neurons, rather than relying on individual neurons
43
What is visual Agnosia?
An inability to recognise objects which isn't due to visual or memory problems
44
What are the two types of visual Agnosia?
- Apperceptive Agnosia - Associative Agnosia
45
What is Apperceptive Agnosia?
A form of Agnosia that is characterised by a failure in object recognition due to issues with early perceptual processing
46
What is Apperceptive Agnosia often caused by?
Carbon monoxide poisoning
47
What do patients with Apperceptive agnosia often have an inability to do?
They can't copy basic shapes and letters
48
Which area needs to be damaged for Apperceptive Agnosia?
Damage to the occipital cortex and surrounding areas
49
What is Associative Agnosia?
A form of agnosia in which a person can perceive an object accurately but struggles to recognise or assign meaning to it, despite having intact sensory abilities and memory
50
What is prosopagnosia?
A neurological disorder characterised by the inability to recognise faces, even if familiar. This happens even whilst other aspects of vision and intelligence remain intact
51
What is Congenital Prosopagnosia?
They have prosopagnosia but no brain damage
52
How many people suffer from congenital prosopagnosia?
2% of the world population
53
What are the three brain regions associated with face processing?
-Fusiform Face Area - Superior Temporal Sulcus - Occipital Face Area
54
What does FAA stand for?
Fusiform Face Area
55
Where is the FAA located?
Fusiform Gyrus
56
What does the FAA specialise in?
Recognises faces rather than other objects
57
What does the FAA play a crucial role in?
Identifying and distinguishing between faces
58
What does STS stand for?
Superior Temporal Sulcus
59
What is STS involved in?
The dynamic aspects of faces such as expressions, gaze directions and speech-related movements
60
When is STS more active?
When viewing videos of facial expressions rather than static images
61
What does OFA stand for?
Occipital Face Area
62
What is the OFA?
It is the earliest stage of facial processing located in the occipital lobe
63
What does the OFA detect?
Basic features on the face
64
What does the OFA pass information to?
The fusiform face area

Clinical and Cognitive Neuropsychology (9 decks)

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