2605 Lect6

BIOPSYCHOLOGY 8e
John P.J. Pinel
Copyright © Pearson Education 2011

Topics
6.1 Light Enters the Eye and
Reaches the Retina
6.2 The Retina and Translation of

Light into Neural Signals
6.3 From Retina to Primary

Visual Cortex
6.4 Seeing Edges
6.5 Seeing Color
6.6 Cortical Mechanisms of

Vision and Conscious
Awareness
Copyright ©
Pearson Education 2011
What Do We See?
Somehow a distorted and upside-

down 2-D retinal image is
transformed into the 3-D world
we perceive
Two types of research needed to
study vision
1. Research probing the components
of the visual system
2. Research assessing what we see
BIOPSYCHOLOGY 8e
John P.J. Pinel

Light Enters the Eye and Reaches the Retina
• No species can see in the dark, but some are

capable of seeing when there is little light
• Light can be thought of as:
1. Particles of energy (photons)
2. Waves of electromagnetic radiation
• Humans see light between 380-760
nanometers
BIOPSYCHOLOGY 8e
John P.J. Pinel

Experiments
FIGURE 6.2:
The electromagnetic
spectrum and the
colors associated with
the wavelengths that
are visible to humans
Copyright ©
The Pupil and the Lens
• Light enters the eye through the pupil, whose size

changes in response to changes in illumination
• Sensitivity – the ability to see when light is dim
• Acuity – the ability to see details
• Lens – focuses light on the retina
• Ciliary muscles alter the shape of the lens as needed
• Accommodation – the process of adjusting the lens to
bring images into focus
Copyright ©
The Pupil and the Lens
FIGURE 6.3: The Human Eye
Copyright ©
Eye Position and Binocular Disparity
• Convergence – eyes must

turn slightly inward when
objects are close
• Binocular disparity –
difference between the
images on the two retinas
• Both are greater when
objects are close – provides
brain with a 3-D image and
distance information
BIOPSYCHOLOGY 8e
John P.J. Pinel

The Retina and Translation of Light into Neural Signals
 The retina is in a sense “inside-out”

 Light passes through several
cell layers before reaching its
receptors
 Vertical pathway – receptors >
bipolar cells > retinal ganglion cells
 Lateral communication
 Horizontal cells
 Amacrine cells
BIOPSYCHOLOGY 8e
John P.J. Pinel

FIGURE 6.5:
BIOPSYCHOLOGY 8e
John P.J. Pinel

 Blind spot: no receptors where

information exits the eye
 The visual system uses
information from cells around
the blind spot for
“completion,” filling in the
blind spot
 Fovea: high acuity area at center
of retina
 Thinning of the ganglion cell
layer reduces distortion due to
cells between the pupil and the
retina
BIOPSYCHOLOGY 8e
John P.J. Pinel

FIGURE 6.6:
A section of the
retina
BIOPSYCHOLOGY 8e
John P.J. Pinel

Cone and Rod Vision
Duplexity theory of vision – cones and rods mediate different
kinds of vision
Cones: Rods:
Photopic (daytime) Scotopic (nighttime
vision vision)
• High-acuity color information • High-sensitivity, allowing
in good lighting for low-acuity vision in dim
• Only cones are found at the light, but lacks detail and
fovea color information
• More convergence than
the cone system, increasing
sensitivity while decreasing
acuity
Copyright ©
Cone and Rod Vision
FIGURE 6.8:
A schematic
representation
of the
convergence of
cones and rods
on retinal
ganglion cells.
Copyright ©
Cone and Rod Vision
FIGURE 6.9:
The distribution
of cones and
rods over the
human retina.
(Adapted from
Lindsay &
Norman, 1977.)
Copyright ©
Spectral Sensitivity
 Lights of the same intensity but

different wavelengths may not all
look as bright
 A spectral sensitivity curve
shows the relationship between
wavelength and brightness
 There are different spectral
sensitivity curves for photopic
(cone) vision and scotopic (rod)
vision
BIOPSYCHOLOGY 8e
John P.J. Pinel

Spectral Sensitivity
FIGURE 6.10:
Human photopic
(cone) and
scotopic (rod)
spectral
sensitivity
curves.
BIOPSYCHOLOGY 8e
John P.J. Pinel

Eye Movement
• We continually scan the world with small and quick eye

movements – saccades
• These bits of information are then integrated
• Stabilize retinal image – see nothing
•Visual system responds to change
Copyright ©
Visual Transduction: The Conversion of
Light to Neural Signals
• Transduction – conversion
Universe
of one form of energy to
another
• Visual transduction –
conversion of light to neural
signals by visual receptors
• Pigments absorb light
• Absorption spectrum
describes spectral
sensitivity
Copyright ©
Visual Transduction
Figure 6.12
The
inhibitory
response of
rods to light
Copyright ©
From Retina to Primary Visual Cortex
 The retinal-geniculate-striate
pathways are about 90% of axons
of retinal ganglion cells
 The left hemiretina of each eye
(right visual field) connects to the
right lateral geniculate nucleus
(LGN); the right hemiretina (left
visual field) connects to the left
LGN
 Most LGN neurons that project to
primary visual cortex (V1, striate
cortex) terminate in the lower part
of cortical layer IV
Copyright ©
Retinotopic Organization
 Information received at adjacent portions of

the retina remains adjacent in the striate
cortex (retinotopic)
 More cortex is devoted to areas of high
acuity – like the disproportionate
representation of sensitive body parts in
somatosensory cortex
 About 25% of primary visual cortex is
dedicated to input from the fovea
Copyright ©
The M and P Channels
Magnocellular layers Parvocellular layers
 Big cell bodies,  Small cell bodies,

bottom two layers top four layers of
of LGN LGN
 Particularly  Color, detail, and
responsive to still or slow
movement objects
 Input primarily  Input primarily
from rods from cones
Copyright ©
Seeing Edges
 Contrast
Enhancement
 Mach bands: nonexistent
stripes the visual system
creates for contrast
enhancement
 Makes edges easier to
see
 A consequence of lateral
inhibition
Copyright ©
Lateral Inhibition and Contrast Enhancement
Figure 6.14
The illusory
bands visible in
this figure are
often called Mach
bands, although
Mach used a
different figure to
generate them in
his studies
Copyright ©
Lateral Inhibition and Contrast Enhancement
Figure 6.15
How lateral
inhibition
produces
contrast
enhancement
(Adapted
from Ratliff,
1972)
Copyright ©
Receptive Fields: Neurons of the Retina-Geniculate-
Striate System
Similarities seen at all three levels:

 Receptive fields of foveal areas are smaller than
those in the periphery
 Neurons’ receptive fields are circular in shape
 Neurons are monocular
 Many neurons at each level had receptive fields
with excitatory and inhibitory area
Copyright ©
Receptive Fields: Neurons of the Retina-Geniculate-
Striate System
 Many cells have receptive

fields with a center-
surround organization:
excitatory and inhibitory
regions separated by a
circular boundary
 Some cells are “on-

center” and some are
“off-center”
FIGURE 6.17:
The responses
of an on-center
cell to contrast
Copyright ©
Receptive Fields of Visual Neurons
 The area of the visual field

within which it is possible for a
visual stimulus to influence the
firing of a given neuron
 Hubel and Wiesel looked at

receptive fields in cat retinal
ganglion, LGN, and lower layer
IV of striate cortex
Copyright ©
Receptive Fields: Simple and Complex Cortical Cells
 In lower layer IV of the striate cortex,

neurons with circular receptive fields (as
in retinal ganglion cells and LGN) are
rare
 Most neurons in V1 are either:

 Simple – receptive fields are rectangular with
“on” and “off” regions, or
 Complex – also rectangular, larger receptive
fields, respond best to a particular stimulus
anywhere in its receptive field
Copyright ©
Receptive Fields: Simple and Complex Cortical Cells
SIMPLE COMPLEX
• Rectangular
• Rectangular
• Larger receptive
• “On” and “off” fields
regions, like cells • Do not have static
in layer IV “on” and “off”
• Orientation and regions
location sensitive • Not location
• All are monocular sensitive
• Motion sensitive
• Many are binocular
Copyright ©
Columnar Organization of Primary Visual Cortex
 Cells with simpler receptive fields send

information on to cells with more complex
receptive fields
 Functional vertical columns exist such that
all cells in a column have the same
receptive field and ocular dominance
 Ocular dominance columns – as you
move horizontally, the dominance of the
columns changes
 Retinotopic organization is maintained
Copyright ©
Columnar Organization of Primary Visual Cortex
Figure 6.19:
The
organization
of the
primary
visual cortex
Copyright ©
Plasticity of Receptive Fields of
Neurons in the Visual Cortex
• Plasticity appears to be a
fundamental property of
visual cortex function
– e.g. receptive field
properties depend on the
scene in which the stimuli
to its field are embedded
Copyright ©
Seeing Color: Component and Opponent Processing
Component theory Opponent-process

(trichromatic theory) theory
Proposed by Young,
Proposed by Hering
refined by Helmholtz
• Two different classes of cells
• Three types of receptors, each encoding color and another
with a different spectral sensitivity class encoding brightness
Both theories are correct: coding of color
• Each encodes two
by cones seems to operate on a complementary
purely color
component basis, opponent processing ofperceptions
•Accountslevels
color is seen at all subsequent for color afterimages
and colors that cannot appear
together (reddish green or bluish
yellow)
Copyright ©
Seeing Color
FIGURE 6.21:
The absorption
spectra of the
three classes
of cones
Copyright ©
Color Constancy and the Retinex Theory
 Color constancy – color perception is not

altered by varying reflected wavelengths
 Retinex theory (Land)– color is determined
by the proportion of light of different
wavelengths that a surface reflects
 Relative wavelengths are constant, so
perception is constant
 Dual-opponent color cells are sensitive to color
contrast
 Found in cortical “blobs”
Copyright ©
Color Constancy and the Retinex Theory
FIGURE 6.22:
The method of Land’s (1977)
color-vision experiments.
Subjects viewed Mondrians
that were illuminated by
various proportions of three
different wavelengths: a
short wavelength, a middle
wavelength, and a long
wavelength.
Copyright ©
Cortical Mechanisms of Vision and Conscious
Awareness
Flow of visual information:

• Thalamic relay neurons, to
• 1˚ visual cortex (striate), to
• 2˚ visual cortex (prestriate), to
• Visual association cortex
As visual information flows
through hierarchy, receptive
fields
• become larger
• respond to more complex and specific FIGURE 6.24: The
stimuli visual areas of the
human cerebral cortex.
Copyright ©
Damage to Primary Visual Cortex
Figure 6.26: The

Scotomas completion of a
• Areas of blindness in migrane-induced
scotoma as described
contralateral visual field due to by Karl Lashley (1941).
damage to primary visual cortex
• Detected by perimetry test
Completion
• Patients may be unaware of
scotoma – missing details
supplied by “completion”
Copyright ©
Damage to Primary Visual Cortex
Blindsight
• Response to visual stimuli outside
conscious awareness of “seeing”
• Possible explanations of blindsight
– Islands of functional cells within scotoma
– Direct connections between subcortical
structures and secondary visual cortex,
not available to conscious awareness
Copyright ©
Functional Areas of Secondary and Association Visual
Cortex
Neurons in each area respond to

different visual cues, such as color,
movement, or shape
Lesions of each area results in

specific deficits
Anatomically distinct (about 12

functionally distinct areas identified
so far)
Retinotopically organized
Copyright ©
Functional Areas of Secondary and Association Visual
Cortex
FIGURE 6.27:
Some of the
visual areas
that have
been
identified in
the human
brain.
Copyright ©
Dorsal and Ventral Streams
Dorsal Stream: Ventral Stream:

pathway from primary pathway from primary
visual cortex visual cortex to ventral
prestriate coretex to
• The “where” pathway inferotemporal cortex
(location and
movement), or •The “what” pathway
(color and shape), or
• the pathway for
control of behavior •The pathway for
(e.g., reaching) conscious perception of
objects
Copyright ©
Dorsal and Ventral Streams
Copyright ©
Neuropsychological disorders of vision
Prosopagnosia
 Inability to distinguish among faces

 Most prosopagnosic’s recognition deficits are
not limited to faces
 Prosopagnosia is associated with damage to the
ventral stream between the occipital and
temporal lobes
 Prosopagnosics may be able to recognize faces
in the absence of conscious awareness
 Prosopagnosics have different skin conductance
responses to familiar faces compared to unfamiliar
faces, even though they reported not recognizing
any of the faces
Copyright ©
Neuropsychological disorders of vision
Akinetopsia
Deficiency in the ability to
see movement progress in a
normal smooth fashion
Can be induced by a high
dose of certain
antidepressants
Associated with damage to
the middle temporal (MT)
area of the cortex
Copyright ©
Simulate: The eye and retina
Simulate: The visual pathways from retina
to visual cortex
Note: To view the MyPsychLab assets, please make sure you are connected to the
internet and have a browser opened and logged into www.mypsychlab.com.
Copyright ©
Acknowledgements
Slide Image Description Image Source
template lightning ©istockphoto.com/Soubrette
template background texture ©istockphoto.com/Hedda Gjerpen
ch06 image eye ©istockphoto.com/Tyler Stalman
3 puzzle globe ©istockphoto.com/Günay Mutlu
3 eye ©istockphoto.com/Tyler Stalman
4 dark night ©iStockphoto.com/Soubrette
4 bright day ©iStockphoto.com/Online Creative Media

5 Electromagnetic spectrum Figure 6.2 Pinel 8e, p. 133
6, 7, 16, 17,
37, 38 colored smoke ©istockphoto.com/Wolfgang Amri
6, 18, 37 head - woman ©istockphoto.com/Angel Herrero de Frutos
7 Figure 6.4 Pinel 8e, p. 134
8 binoculars ©iStockphoto.com/Alex Staroseltsev
12-Sep dreamlike background ©istockphoto.com/Emre Yildiz
9, 11 eye ©istockphoto.com/Tyler Stalman

19, 34 brain ©istockphoto.com/Stephen Kirklys
Copyright ©
Acknowledgements
Slide Image Description Image Source
24 piano © iStockphoto.com/Christian Waadt

27 neuron ©istockphoto.com/ktsimage
35 Paint cans istockphoto.com/Amanda Rohde


46 Paper cut out men istockphoto.com/twentyfourworks
48 laptop ©istockphoto.com/CostinT
48 table and wall ©istockphoto.com/David Clark
Copyright ©

2605 Lect6

Hochgeladen von

Dokumentinformationen

Originaltitel

Copyright

Verfügbare Formate

Dieses Dokument teilen

Dokument teilen oder einbetten

Freigabeoptionen

Stufen Sie dieses Dokument als nützlich ein?

Sind diese Inhalte unangemessen?

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

2605 Lect6

Hochgeladen von

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

BIOPSYCHOLOGY 8e

John P.J. Pinel

Copyright © Pearson Education 2011

6.2 The Retina and Translation of

6.3 From Retina to Primary

6.4 Seeing Edges

6.5 Seeing Color

6.6 Cortical Mechanisms of

Somehow a distorted and upside-

Copyright © Pearson Education 2011

• No species can see in the dark, but some are

Copyright © Pearson Education 2011

• Light enters the eye through the pupil, whose size

• Convergence – eyes must

Copyright © Pearson Education 2011

 The retina is in a sense “inside-out”

Copyright © Pearson Education 2011

Copyright © Pearson Education 2011

 Blind spot: no receptors where

Copyright © Pearson Education 2011

Copyright © Pearson Education 2011

 Lights of the same intensity but

Copyright © Pearson Education 2011

Copyright © Pearson Education 2011

• We continually scan the world with small and quick eye

 Information received at adjacent portions of

Magnocellular layers Parvocellular layers

 Big cell bodies,  Small cell bodies,

Similarities seen at all three levels:

 Many cells have receptive

 Some cells are “on-

 The area of the visual field

 Hubel and Wiesel looked at

 In lower layer IV of the striate cortex,

 Most neurons in V1 are either:

 Cells with simpler receptive fields send

Component theory Opponent-process

 Color constancy – color perception is not

Flow of visual information:

Figure 6.26: The

Neurons in each area respond to

Lesions of each area results in

Anatomically distinct (about 12

Dorsal Stream: Ventral Stream:

 Inability to distinguish among faces

template lightning ©istockphoto.com/Soubrette

template background texture ©istockphoto.com/Hedda Gjerpen

ch06 image eye ©istockphoto.com/Tyler Stalman

3 puzzle globe ©istockphoto.com/Günay Mutlu

3 eye ©istockphoto.com/Tyler Stalman

4 dark night ©iStockphoto.com/Soubrette

4 bright day ©iStockphoto.com/Online Creative Media

6, 18, 37 head - woman ©istockphoto.com/Angel Herrero de Frutos

7 Figure 6.4 Pinel 8e, p. 134

8 binoculars ©iStockphoto.com/Alex Staroseltsev

12-Sep dreamlike background ©istockphoto.com/Emre Yildiz

9, 11 eye ©istockphoto.com/Tyler Stalman

10 Figure 6.5 Pinel 8e, p. 136

12 Figure 6.6 Pinel 8e, p. 137

14 Figure 6.8 Pinel 8e, p. 138

17 Figure 6.10 Pinel 8e, p. 140

19, 34 brain ©istockphoto.com/Stephen Kirklys

19 Figure 6.11 Pinel 8e, p. 141