PS260 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Receptive Field, Cell C, Occipital Lobe
Document Summary
In humans, vision is the dominant sense and lots of brain area is devoted to vision. Vision is made possible through light; light travels through the cornea and lens (focus the light) to the retina, which is the light-sensitive tissue lining the back of the eye. The lens is surrounded by muscles that bulge to view objects nearby and flatten to view objects further away. Greatest acuity is in the fovea (center of the retina) because cones outnumber rods. Photoreceptors report to bipolar and ganglion cells. Axons of ganglion cells converge to form the optic nerve, which then carries information to lateral. Lateral inhibition: cells, when stimulated, inhibit the activity of neighboring cells. Cell b is simulated by light, and so are cells a and c. However, cell b is inhibited by both cells a and c, and therefore, will only be moderately stimulated.
