PS262 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Parietal Lobe, Temporal Lobe, Retinotopy
Document Summary
Chapter 4 : the visual cortex and beyond. Light is refl ected from an object into the eye. This light is focused to form an image of that object on the retina. Light, in a pattern that illuminates some receptors intensely and some dimly, is absorbed by the visual pigment molecules that pack the rod and cone outer segments. Chemical reactions in the outer segments transduce the light into electrical signals. As these electrical signals travel through the retina, they interact, excite, and inhibit, eventually reaching the ganglion cells, which because of this processing have center-surround receptive fi elds on the retina. After being processed by the retina these electrical signals are sent out the back of the eye in fi bers of the optic nerve. One way researchers have approached this problem is by determining how neurons at various places in the visual system respond to stimuli presented to the retina.
