PSYCH 240 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Lateral Geniculate Nucleus, Radioactive Tracer, Ganglion Cell
Document Summary
Exam 1 - notes from polk"s exam q&a. Lateral geniculate nucleus: part of thalamus dedicated to visual processing; where magno and parvocellular layers are located (lec 3) Single neuron receives input from many other neurons, only fires when combined effect (summation) of signals supersedes threshold. Each ganglion cell responds to a particular part of visual field (their receptive field). Visual stimuli outside of field = baseline firing rate. On center off surround = fires more frequently when stimulus is in center of field, inhibits baseline firing (fires less frequently) when stimulus is right outside of center but still in field. Opposite is true for off center on surround. Brain uses this mechanism to see lines - can detect presence of line when ganglion cells whose receptive fields are along the line fire. Magnocellular and parvocellular are layers of the lgn, not ganglion cell types.
