PS262 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4-6: Lateral Geniculate Nucleus, Receptive Field, Two-Streams Hypothesis
Document Summary
Sensory process & perception chapter 4-6 and 8 notes. Figure 4. 1a, which is an overview of the visual system, pictures the pathway that the neural signals follow once they leave the retina. Recording from neurons in the lgn shows that lgn neurons have the same center-surround configuration as retinal ganglion cells. Thus, neurons in the lgn, like neurons in the optic nerve, respond best to small spots of light on the retina. A major function of the lgn is apparently not to create new receptive field properties, but to regulate neural information as it flows from the retina to the visual cortex. 90% of the fibres in the optic nerve arrive at the lgn (the other 10% travel to the superior colliculus) Figure 4. 2b indicates the amount of flow between the retina, lgn, and cortex. But the lgn not only regulates information flowing through it; it also organizes the information.
