VISION

VISION
Physiological Psychology
 OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW
Visual Coding

How the Brain Processes Visual

Information

Parallel Processing in the Visual

Cortex
 GENERAL PRINCIPLE
GENERAL PRINCIPLE OF
OF
PERCEPTION
PERCEPTION

Though the process varies for different senses,

in each the raw physical energy (light, sound,
heat, etc) is converted into electrical neural
impulses. The brain doesn't "see" light, it
interprets specific patterns of action potentials
sent from sensory receptors.
 THE EYE
THE EYE AND
AND ITS
ITS CONNECTION
CONNECTION

The eye and it’s connection to the Brain Light

enters the eye and hits the retina, where the
signal travels down the optic nerve to the LGN in
the thalamus. It is then sent to the primary visual
cortex in the occipital lobe for high-level
processing.

.
 VISUAL RECEPTORS
VISUAL RECEPTORS

Rods and Cones Rods are highly sensitive to low

light and handle peripheral and night vision, though
they cannot distinguish color. Cones are
concentrated in the fovea and are responsible for
high-acuity detail and color vision in bright light
conditions.
 COLOR VISION
COLOR VISION

Color perception depends upon the trichromatic

theory, using three types of cones (Short, Medium
and Long wavelengths). It was further refined
because of the Opponent-Process Theory where
neurons would respond to antagonist pairs like red-
green or blue-yellow.
 THEORIES
THEORIES
The Trichromatic (Young-
Helmholtz) Theory

The Opponent-Process
Theory

The Retinex Theory

 THE TRICHROMATIC
THE TRICHROMATIC (YOUNG-HELMHOLTZ)
(YOUNG-HELMHOLTZ)
THEORY
THEORY

According to this theory, we perceive color through

the relative rates of response by three kinds of cones,
each one maximally sensitive to a different set of
wavelengths. (Trichromatic means “three colors.”) He
found that people could match any color by mixing
appropriate amounts of just three wavelengths.
Therefore, he concluded that three kinds of receptors—
we now call them cones—are sufficient to account for
human color vision.
 THE OPPONENT-PROCESS
THE OPPONENT-PROCESS THEORY
THEORY

Ewald Hering, a 19th-century physiologist,

proposed the opponent-process theory: We perceive
color in terms of opposites (Hurvich & Jameson,
1957). That is, the brain has a mechanism that
perceives color on a continuum from red to green,
another from yellow to blue, and another from white
to black. After you stare at one color in one location
long enough, you fatigue that response and swing to
the opposite.
 THE RETINEX
THE RETINEX THEORY
THEORY

To account for color and brightness constancy,

Edwin Land proposed the retinex theory (a
combination of the words retina and cortex): The
cortex compares information from various parts of the
retina to determine the brightness and color for each
area (Land, Hubel, Livingstone, Perry, & Burns, 1983).
Dale Purves and colleagues have expressed a similar
idea in more general terms: Whenever we see
anything, we make an inference.
 COLOR VISION
COLOR VISION DEFICIENCY
DEFICIENCY

One of the first discoveries in psychology was colorblindness, better described

as color vision deficiency. (Complete colorblindness, perception of only black and
white, is rare.) Today we are familiar with the idea that some people see color better
than others do, but before the 1600s, people assumed that everyone sees the same
way, and that what we perceive is what the object actually is (Fletcher & Voke, 1985).
Then investigators demonstrated that some people have otherwise satisfactory vision
without seeing all the color that other people do. That is, color is in the brain, not in the
light or the object itself. In contrast to our three types of cones, many birds, reptiles,
and fish have four types (Bowmaker, 2008). So far as they are concerned, all humans
are color deficient.
COLOR VISION
COLOR VISION DEFICIENCY
DEFICIENCY
HOW THE
HOW THE BRAIN
BRAIN PROCESSES
PROCESSES
INFORMATION
INFORMATION

The brain converts sensory input into

neural signals and interprets them as
perception. Visual processing is both
hierarchical and parallel, influenced by
bottom-up input and top-down
expectations.
 Mammalian Visual
Mammalian Visual System
System

Visual information travels

from the retina through
the optic nerve to
different brain areas for
processing. Each brain
hemisphere processes the
opposite visual field.
 The Eye
The Eye as
as Sensory
Sensory Organ
Organ

The eye focuses light onto

the retina using the cornea
and lens, while the iris
controls light entry. The
image formed on the retina is
inverted and interpreted by
the brain.
Processing in
Processing in the
the Retina-
Retina- Photoreceptors
Photoreceptors

Photoreceptors convert light into

electrical signals. Rods support low-light
vision, while cones enable color vision
and high visual acuity, especially in the
fovea
Processing in
Processing in the
the Retina-
Retina- Neural
Neural Circuits
Circuits

The retina performs early visual

processing through interconnected cells.
This circuitry enhances contrast and
helps detect edges before signals reach
the brain
 Retinal Output
Retinal Output

Ganglion cells send visual

information as action
potentials through the
optic nerve. Different cell
types process motion,
detail, and color.
 Further Processing-
Further Processing- Thalamus
Thalamus (LGN)
(LGN)

The LGN relays visual signals

from the retina to the visual
cortex. It preserves visual
organization and is influenced
by attention and cortical
feedback.
PRIMARY VISUAL
PRIMARY VISUAL CORTEX
CORTEX
Located in the occipital lobe also known as area V1 or
the striate cortex because of its striped appearance.
First cortical area to receive visual signals from the
lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus.
Each hemisphere processes visual information from
the contralateral visual field.
Responsible for early-stage cortical visual processing. Primary Visual
Cortex
SIMPLE AND
SIMPLE AND COMPLEX
COMPLEX
RECEPTIVE FIELDS
RECEPTIVE FIELDS

SIMPLE RECEPTIVE FIELDS

Found in the primary visual cortex (V1)
Respond to lines or edges in a specific position
ON and OFF areas

Example:
A neuron fires when it sees a vertical line in one exact spot.

COMPLEX RECEPTIVE FIELDS

Found in higher visual areas
Respond to lines or edges anywhere in a larger area
Often respond to movement
END- STOPPED (HYPERCOMPLEX) CELLS
Example: Highly specialized neurons in the primary visual cortex
A neuron fires when a vertical line moves, no matter where Response decreases or stops when the stimulus
it appears. extends beyond the receptive field
THE COLUMNAR
THE COLUMNAR ORGANIZATION
ORGANIZATION OF
OF
THE VISUAL
THE VISUAL CORTEX
CORTEX

Orientation Columns
Neurons in V1 are arranged into vertical
Neurons respond to lines of a particular angle
columns
Organized in gradual shifts across the cortex (orientation maps)
Cells within a column respond to similar
Ocular Dominance Columns
visual properties
Neurons prefer input from either the left or right eye
Each column represents a small region
Support binocular vision and depth perception
of the visual field
Columns interact to process multiple visual features simultaneously
 ARE VISUAL
ARE VISUAL CORTEX
CORTEX CELLS
CELLS FEATURE
FEATURE
DETECTORS?
DETECTORS?

MOONEY
FACES

Early theory suggested neurons act as feature detectors Current Understanding

Individual neurons respond to: No single neuron is responsible for perception
- Orientation Visual perception arises from:
- Movement - Patterns of neural activity
- Length - Interactions among many neurons
- Direction The visual system works as a distributed network
DEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPMENT
OF
OF
THE
THE
VISUAL CORTEX
VISUAL CORTEX
 DEPRIVED EXPERIENCE
DEPRIVED EXPERIENCE IN
IN ONE
ONE EYE
EYE

If an experimenter sutures one eyelid shut for a kitten’s

‎first 4 to 6 weeks of life, synapses in the visual cortex
gradually become unresponsive to input from the
deprived eye (Shouval et al.,1999).
-After the deprived eye is opened, the kitten
does not respond to it.

-After an eye deprived of vision in adults is

reopened, cells gradually return to their
‎previous levels of responsiveness (Jaepel et al.,
2016).
DEPRIVED EXPERIENCE
DEPRIVED EXPERIENCE IN
IN BOTH
BOTH EYES
EYES

-‎ If the eyes remain shut for a long period of time, the

cortical responses start to become slow-moving and lose
their well-defined receptive fields (Crair et al., 1998).

-Eventually, the visual cortex starts responding to

auditory and touch stimuli instead.
UNCORRELATED STIMULATION
UNCORRELATED STIMULATION IN
IN THE
THE TWO
TWO EYES
EYES

-Stereoscopic depth perception

requires the brain to detect
retinal disparity, the discrepancy
between what the left and right
eyes see.
 STRABISMUS ‘‘LAZY
STRABISMUS ‘‘LAZY EYE’’
EYE’’

-Also called as Amblyopia, is a type of poor

vision that usually happens in just 1 eye but
less commonly in both eyes.
 ASTIGMATISM
ASTIGMATISM

‎- A blurring of vision for lines in

one direction (e.g., horizontal,
vertical, or one of the diagonals),
caused by an asymmetric
curvature of the eyes.
ASTIGMATISM TEST
ASTIGMATISM TEST

-Vision and Eye Health, 2024

PARALLEL PROCESSING
PARALLEL PROCESSING
IN THE
IN THE VISUAL
VISUAL CORTEX
CORTEX
the brain uses parallel processing to analyze different
aspects of a visual scene such as color, shape, and
motion at the same time through specialized pathways.

1. The Ventral and Dorsal Paths

Ventral Pathway - known as the "what" pathway goes
to the temporal lobe for object recognition, color,
shape, and identifying what something is.
Dorsal Pathway - often called "where or how"
pathway goes to the parietal lobe for spatial location,
motion, and guiding actions.
2. Detailed Analysis of Shape
Hierarchical Building - Neurons that respond to basic lines and
orientations are involved in Primary Visual Cortex (V1)
processing. These simple features are combined into complex
forms, angles, and eventually identifiable objects when visual
data moves to the inferior temporal cortex.
Consistency - Research shows that the large-scale
organization of shape processing remains consistent even when
a person is not actively attending to the shape.
3. Motion Perception
Area MT (Middle Temporal Cortex) - contains cells
that respond to objects moving in a particular
direction at a specific speed.
Area MST (Medial Superior Temporal Cortex) -
processes more complex types of motion, such as
expansion, contraction, or rotation of the entire visual
field (optic flow).
Biological Motion - a specialized network, often
involving the superior temporal sulcus (STS), allows
us to recognize the movement of living beings (like a
walking human) even from minimal cues.
4. Motion Blindness (Akinetopsia)
is a rare neuropsychological disorder characterized by a selective
inability to perceive continuous, smooth motion. People with this
condition see moving objects as a series of disjointed "freeze-
frame" images or snapshots, much like a stroboscope effect, while
their perception of stationary objects, color, and depth remains
otherwise intact.
Thank You
Thank You
For your attention