Download Occipital Lobe

Occipital Lobe
Kiley Pugh and Ben Hodges
Function
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The occipital lobes are involved in several functions
of the body including:
-Visual Perception
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-Color Recognition
Neurons separately encode different visual
information such as color, orientation, and motion.
Function
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Two important pathways of information originating in
the occipital lobes are the dorsal and ventral
streams.
The dorsal stream processes where objects are
located.
The ventral stream processes what objects are.
Process
How it Works
-receives information from eyes and transmits it
to the occipital lobe.
-the left eye goes to the right side of the lobe and
the right eye goes to the left side of the lobe.
the information goes through the optic nerve to
the back of the brain.
Discovery
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The discovery of the visual cortex began in
the late 1700's and spanned over a century.
Investigators had little understanding of how
the brain worked.
Francesco Gennari
Discovery
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Gennari discovered a third substance in addition
to the “whitish layer”.
This third substance or stripe consists of axons
that transmits signals within the occipital lobe.
He observed that this stripe was most prominent
in what is now known to be the primary visual
cortex.
Experiments
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In the typical experiment investigators produced
lesions in the brains of animals and studied the
resulting effects.
David Ferrier
Ferrier claimed that the removal of a region in the
parietal lobe blinded monkeys. He believed that
this area controlled vision.
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Hermann Munk
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Later works proved Munk correct.
Experiments
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Solomen Henschen
In every case, the damage included the region of
the occipital cortex that surrounds and includes
the calcarine fissure.
This region contains the part of the cortex in which
Gennari's stripe is most visible.
After a century, Henschen confirmed Gennari's
theory.
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How it connects
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The occipital lobe always works with the
temporal lobe on keeping balance and
sensory information
It also works the the retina in the eye to see
things.
It takes what we see from our eyes to the
retina through the optic nerve to the
occipital lobe. Then send the information to
the sensory nerves to act on what to do.
It works with the other four lobes
In case of Injury
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If the occipital lobe was hit or injured you will not be able to
see.
This would have an effect on your eyes your balance.
It would also effect your vision and perception of size, color,
and shape.
Production of hallucinations
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Visual illusions - inaccurately seeing objects.
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Word blindness - inability to recognize words.
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Difficulty in recognizing drawn objects
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Inability to recognize the movement of an object (Movement
Agnosia)
Difficulties with reading and writing.
http://youtu.be/nG1IcwGn4Wc
Current Research
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Most research is being done is on seizures.
Seizures could be caused by strobe lights and
other fast moving lights.
Scientists are trying to find out the cause of
epilepsy by studying the Occipital Lobe.
They are also trying to find out how to better
treat those with epilepsy.
Works sited
Bailey, Regina. "Occipital Lobes." About.com Biology. About.com, n.d.
Web. 21 Sept. 2013.
Taylor, Isabella. Ocipital Epilepsies. Oxford Journal, n.d. Web. 21 Sept.
2013.
"What Happens When the Brain Is Injured?" Brain Basics. WETA, n.d.
Web. 21 Sept. 2013.
Bailey, Regina. "Occipital Lobes." About.com Biology. About.com, n.d.
Web. 21 Sept. 2013.
Ellis-Christensen, Tricia, and O. Wallace. "What Is the Occipital Lobe?"
WiseGeek. Conjecture, n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2013.