1

Neural and Hormonal Control of

Human Systems

Lecture 3:
Visual System (chapter 11)
Introduction to the Visual
System
No questions on anatomy
 Visual System
(chapter on Moodle for you)

 It provides:
 Recognition and location of objects

(sight):
Size, shape and texture of objects
 Eye movement control:

Through reflexes and voluntary command

 Information used in posture and limb

movement control (anticipatory control):

Peripheral vision to orient body movement
Neural Structure and FYOK
Function of the
Retina
• Cones: color
discrimination + require
more light
• Rods: respond to dim
illumination
• Info from 126 million
photoreceptors is
transmitted to 1 million
optic nerve fibers
(integration) Only light sensitive
cells in the retina are
 Extract the important photoreceptors
info to provide an accurate
picture
 The Fovea
• FOVEA = latin word for pit FYOK

• Area of the retina where the

photoreceptors (cones) are
the most dense
• Responsible for the fine
discrimination and high
visual acuity in humans
• Outside the fovea = more
rod and less cones Bear FB, Connors BW, Paradiso, MA. Neuroscience: Exploring
the brain, 2nd Ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2001
* Optic disc
causes blind
region in your
eye  Image
lands on the
optic disc (area
of optic n. &
blood vessels)

Bear FB, Connors BW, Paradiso, MA. Neuroscience: Exploring the

brain, 2nd Ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2001
 The Image is Inverted on the
Retina
Image inverted on the retina  area along pathway realigns the image

Retina cells (RC) convert light into
neural impulses
AP transmitted through ON
Optic chiasm  crossing of ON (where
image flipped to original state)
Optic Tract: synapse at thalamus level
that travels up visual cortex

Optic Nerve (ON)

RC
ON OC
Optic chiasm (OC)
OT

LG
Optic Tract OT)
GT

Synapse in the lateral geniculate (LG) VC

nucleus of the thalamus GT: Geniculocalcarine tract
VC: Visual cortex
 1) The information from a visual field is transmitted to the
controlateral visual cortex
2) The retinogeniculocalcarine pathway transmits visual
information that reaches conscious awareness
** Always crosses over in nasal retina at optic chiasma
Thalamus: 1 visual synapse in the lateral geniculate body

TR = temporal retina
NR = nasal retina

TR NR TR
ON OC

OT

LG
GT

VC
Processing of visual information
 Neurons in the primary visual cortex are used to
discriminate the shape size and texture of
objects
 Visual association cortex (adjacent cortical
areas): analysis of colors and movement
 Visual information is transmitted to other areas
of the cortex to:
 Adjust movement (action stream: dorsally)
 Identify objects (perception stream: ventrally)
 Processing of visual information

* No perception
stream: would see
the color & shape of
cup but not know
what it is

When you reach for coffee: see the image of the cup on retina & to make sure you grab the cup is
through the action stream (dorsal system)  info travels from visual cortex in occipital lobe while
action stream helps guide the hand to reach for the cup
Perception stream (ventral stream) tells us what the object is about, in occipitotemporal region
 Eye Movement System
 Eye movements have 2 objectives:
1) Keep the gaze fixed on a target during head
movements
 Vestibulo-ocular reflex
 Optokinetic reflex
2) Directing the gaze at visual
targets
 Saccades
 Smooth pursuits
 Vergence movements
 Vestibulo-ocular reflex  Linked to
semicircular canals
 Role: to stabilize visual images during head movement
(visual fixation, allows for stable vision)
 Move the eyes in the direction opposite to the head
movement to maintain stability of the visual field and
visual fixation on objects
FYOK
 Optokinetic reflex
 Role: To keep the gaze fixed on a target during
slow head movements + allows the eyes to
follow large objects in the visual field
 It is elicited by moving visual stimuli
 It has a direct influence on the perception of
movement and on postural control

FYOK
 Saccadic Eye Movements
 A saccade (French for jerk) is a quick, simultaneous
movement of both eyes between two or more phases of
fixation in the same direction
 Very fast movement: speed can reach up to 900 degrees/s
 We make make saccades: about 3X/s
 Saccades can be voluntarily suppressed during such activities
a threading a needle or aiming a camera

Traces of where we usually look

when we stare at someone:
 Saccades
Direction of Gaze
 Quickly switch vision from one object to another

(horizontal and vertical) + head is not moving

(reading a book)
 Can be: reflexive or voluntary

CN III: Oculomotor
Reflexive:
FYOK (moves eye up-down,
medially
CN IV: Trochlear
(moves eye medially,
down)
Voluntary: CN VI: Abducens
(adbucts eye)
PPRF: Paramedian
pontine reticular
formation
 Direction of Gaze
 Smooth pursuit
 Used to follow a moving
object (head is not
moving)
 Horizontal and vertical https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRDDKKqkdTg

 Slower than saccades

(max 100 degrees/s)
 The image of the
tracked image remains
sharp
 Direction of Gaze
 Vergence
 Used to align the eyes on a near target
(reading a book)

Summary table*

Semi-circular canals
reflexes
Moving object on the retina

Reflexive saccade Reflex conjugate Brain stem