9.011 | Fall 2002 | Graduate

The Brain and Cognitive Sciences I

Study Materials

Lecture Outlines: The Visual System

Lecture 1:

  • Organization of the retina and the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN):
    • Wiring diagram of visual system
    • Basic arrangement of the retina: layers, cell types, connections
    • Nature of the receptor array, rods and cones
    • Retinal ganglion cell classes
    • Physiology of pre-ganglionic elements
    • Layout of the LGN
    • Physiology of the LGN
  • Organization of visual cortex:
    • Layout of V1: inputs, layers, topography
    • Physiology of V1: basic transforms
    • V1 Cytoarchitecture: modular organization
    • Listing of extrastriate areas
    • Anatomical layout of extrastriate cortex
    • Single cell characteristics of extrastriate areas

Lecture 2:

  • The ON and OFF channels of the visual system:
    • The ON and OFF channels, physiology
    • The central connections of the ON and OFF channels
    • The ON and OFF Channels, behavioral studies
  • The midget and parasol channels of the visual system:
    • The Midget and Parasol channels, physiology
    • The central connections of the Midget and Parasol channels
    • The Midget and Parasol channels, behavioral studies

Report: Maunsell et al. and Ferrera et al.

Lecture 3:

  • Processing of depth perception:
    • Basics of depth perception: oculomotor cues, perspective, shading,parallax, and stereopsis
    • Mechanisms of stereoscopic depth perception
    • The effects of cortical lesions on depth perception
    • Processing of stereopsis in extrastriate cortex
       
  • Processing of color perception:
    • Basics of color vision
    • Color processing by photoreceptors, ganglion cells, and cortex
    • Effects of cortical lesions on color vision
    • Color blindness
    • Adaptation and after images
       
  • Adaptation:
    • Visibility range
    • Luminance adaptation
    • Chrominance adaptation
       
  • Processing of shape perception:
    • Basics of shape perception: general theories
    • Theories of shape processing: line segment analysis, spatial frequency analysis, conformal mapping
    • The effects of cortical lesions on shape processing and stimulus selection

Report: Dacey et al.

Lecture 4: The neural control of eye-movements:

  • Types of eye movements
  • The eye plant: muscles and their innervation
  • Organization of the superior colliculus
  • Visual inputs to the superior colliculus
  • Cortical control of visually guided eye movements: The posterior and anterior systems
  • Function of the frontal and medial eye fields
  • Express saccades

Report: Hikosaka and Wurtz papers.

Lecture 5: Motion perception and Recitation:

  • Processing of motion:
    • Basics of motion perception
    • The accessory optic system
    • Eye stabilization with the vestibular system
    • Cortical processing of motion
    • The effects of cortical lesions on motion perception

Report: Oyster and Barlow

  • Overview
Learning Resource Types
Written Assignments