VISUAL CORTEX

 
Most of what we know about the visual cortex in humans is directly due to the research of the visual cortex in primates.  Therefore, it serves the purpose of this website to first explain the visual cortex and its function, followed by a discussion of the differences between humans and these prosimians.

courtesy of  George Mather
 The cortex is where the brain processes information, and the visual cortex processes the information from the eye.  Cells in the cortex must distinguish between light and dark and eventually pull the information into an image that the brain can handle.  The signals from the LGN are processed by the visual cortex cells labelled V1, V2, etc.

courtesy of  George Mather

 
More than half of the primate cortex is devoted to vision.  This makes the primate, and most notably the prosimian, a good candidate for study.  The brains of the prosimians are smaller compared to the body size of a New World monkey, and for this reason they are easier to study.  In all likelihood, the prosimian brain has simpler cortical visual areas as well, making it an even better subject.  Also, the pathways from the retina to the V1 cells are parellel, making them an easier target of manipulation (Rosa et al. 1997).

 
PLEASE SEE AN EXPERIMENT PERTINENT TO PROSIMIANS:
Rosa, Casagrande, Preuss, and Kaas


 
Questions or comments?: please e-mail me at dapierce@davidson.edu