MECHANISMS FOR THE TRANSFER OF INFORMATION ALONG THE VISUAL PATHWAYS.

Publisher Summary The chapter discusses the conduction of information along the visual pathway. The process of conduction is never completely isolated from the other visual functions. Receptive and central processes are also considered, but only as they augment the understanding of conduction. For convenience of presentation, separate sections are devoted to the retina, the lateral geniculate body, and the visual cortex. Other topics, such as color vision and pattern vision, are not amenable to such anatomic classification so separate sections are devoted to such topics. These sections show the form in which the relevant visual information is transmitted between and recordable from, various loci along the visual pathways. This chapter is also limited to properties of the vertebrate visual system. Following a photochemical reaction, a conductive nerve impulse is created in a secondary neuron probably a bipolar cell. Evidence are presented for the existence of the centrifugal fibers which carry impulses toward the retina, but the functional role of such fibers is still unknown. The anatomy and the electrical activity of the lateral geniculate body are described and the pre- and postgeniculate spikes are mentioned.