This book provides the essential facts about how visual information is processed in the brain. The book has 16 chapters. Chapter 1 provides basic information about the methods that are used by investigators to find out how visual information is processed in living organisms. Chapter 2 outlines the brain areas that process visual information and specifies how these areas are interconnected in the mammalian visual system. Chapter 3 describes in detail the structural and functional organization of the retina. Chapter 4 describes the lateral geniculate nucleus. Chapter 5 delineates the manner in w ... More

This book provides the essential facts about how visual information is processed in the brain. The book has 16 chapters. Chapter 1 provides basic information about the methods that are used by investigators to find out how visual information is processed in living organisms. Chapter 2 outlines the brain areas that process visual information and specifies how these areas are interconnected in the mammalian visual system. Chapter 3 describes in detail the structural and functional organization of the retina. Chapter 4 describes the lateral geniculate nucleus. Chapter 5 delineates the manner in which the primary visual cortex, area V1, is organized. Chapter 6 examines the organization and function of higher cortical visual areas. In Chapter 7 the ON and OFF channels that originate in the retina are examined. In Chapter 8 the characteristics and functions of the midget and parasol channels that originate in the retina are examined. Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 examine the manner in which color vision is achieved, what the mechanisms are for light adaptation, how information is processed for pattern perception, and how three-dimensional vision and motion information are processed in the brain. In Chapter 14 our perception of illusory effects is examined. In Chapter 15 the manner in which eye movements are controlled is delineated. In the last chapter, Chapter 16, procedures are described for the creation of visual prosthetic devices, a major task given that in the world there are more than 40 million blind individuals.