Primary visual cortex

Primary Visual Cortex

The Primary Visual Cortex (V1) is the preliminary cortical region of the visual system located in the posterior pole of the occipital lobe. It is the simplest, earliest cortical visual field map and the area of the brain where the majority of visual information first arrives from the eyes. Anatomically, it is present in the calcarine sulcus.

Function

The primary visual cortex is responsible for processing visual information. It receives strong feedforward connections from the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and sends outputs to the extrastriate areas V2 and V3, V4, and V5 (also known as the middle temporal area (MT)).

Structure

The primary visual cortex spans both sides of the brain, with each hemisphere representing the contralateral visual field. The left hemisphere represents the right visual field, and the right hemisphere represents the left visual field.

Clinical Significance

Damage to the primary visual cortex can lead to blindness due to the role it plays in processing visual information. This condition is known as cortical blindness.

See Also

• Visual System
• Visual Perception
• Visual Field
• Occipital Lobe
• Cortical Blindness

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