Deck 3: Functional Architecture of the Visual Cortex

Question 1

Which of these cells, found in the retina, sends axons to the lateral geniculate nucleus?

A) Retinal ganglion cells
B) Bipolar cells
C) Horizontal cells
D) Amacrine cells
E) Photoreceptors

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Each layer of the lateral geniculate nucleus receives information from

A) both eyes.
B) a single eye.
C) one quadrant of the visual field.
D) the entire visual field.
E) many different types of retinal cell.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Cells in the deep layers (layers 1 and 2) of the lateral geniculate nucleus are characteristically

A) broadly tuned
B) small
C) elongated
D) large
E) compact

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Cells in layers 3 through 6 of the lateral geniculate nucleus have _______.

A) a large receptive field
B) sensitivity to blue light
C) small receptive field
D) sensitivity to contrast
E) sensitivity to movement

Question 5

Small cells that lie in a distinctive zone of the lateral geniculate nucleus are called

A) magnocellular.
B) parvocellular.
C) ovocellular.
D) koniocellular.
E) leucocellular.

Question 6

Which of the following structures appears to process motion information in the visual cortex?

A) Blobs
B) Interblobs
C) Pale stripes
D) Thin stripes
E) Thick stripes

Question 7

Two types of principal cells found in the primary visual cortex are stellate cells and

A) interneurons.
B) mitral cells.
C) pyramidal cells.
D) ganglion cells.
E) multipolar cells.

Question 8

Which of the following is true of the axons of stellate cells?

A) They travel across the corpus callosum.
B) They descend into the white matter.
C) They terminate in the vicinity of the cell.
D) They connect the two hemispheres.
E) They contain spines.

Question 9

The bundles of axons leaving the LGN are called

A) optic radiation.
B) coronal pathway.
C) optic nerve.
D) optic tract.
E) geniculocortical fascicles.

Question 10

Generally, cellular processes (axons and dendrites) in primary visual cortex lie

A) parallel to the cortical surface.
B) perpendicular to the cortical surface.
C) obliquely to the cortical surface.
D) in the white matter.
E) along the midline.

Question 11

How many layers of cells are there in the primary visual cortex?

A) 2
B) 3
C) 4
D) 5
E) 6

Question 12

The primary visual cortex in a single hemisphere receives information from

A) the entire visual field in a single eye.
B) the same half of the visual field (left or right) from both eyes.
C) the opposite half of the visual field (left or right) from both eyes.
D) the entire visual field in both eyes.
E) one half of the visual field (left or right) from a single eye.

Question 13

An axon originating outside of the primary visual cortex and terminating in layer IV is most likely coming from the

A) pulvinar nucleus.
B) lateral geniculate nucleus.
C) superior colliculus.
D) visual cortex.
E) auditory cortex.

Question 14

The arrangement of cells relative to the surface of the brain suggests that computational units in primary visual cortex are shaped like

A) columns.
B) checkers.
C) stripes.
D) circles.
E) pinwheels.

Question 15

Where do axons from LGN cells with receptive fields in the fovea lie within the primary visual cortex?

A) Toward the front of the brain (rostral)
B) Toward the side of the brain (lateral)
C) Toward the top of the brain (dorsal)
D) Toward the bottom of the brain (ventral)
E) Toward the back of the brain (caudal)

Question 16

In the primary visual cortex, where are cells that represent the peripheral visual field found, compared to the representation of the fovea?

A) Toward the front of the brain (rostral)
B) Toward the side of the brain (lateral)
C) Toward the top of the brain (dorsal)
D) Toward the bottom of the brain (ventral)
E) Toward the back of the brain (caudal)

Question 17

If you record visual responses from a column of cells in the occipital pole of the V1 along the calcarine fissure, where would you expect to find the receptive fields?

A) Lower peripheral field
B) Upper peripheral field
C) Fovea
D) Lower midline visual field
E) Upper midline visual field

Question 18

When Hubel and Wiesel recorded from a column of cells in primary visual cortex, they found that all the cells

A) were selective for the same color.
B) had different orientation preference.
C) had the same receptive field position.
D) were driven by the same eye.
E) were binocular (responses driven by both eyes).

Question 19

Which of the following is true of ocular dominance among cells in V1?

A) Most cells respond equally well to input to both eyes.
B) Most cells respond only to the ipsilateral eye.
C) Most cells respond only to the contralateral eye.
D) Most cells display responses to both eyes, but prefer one over the other.
E) Cells are equally likely to display all of these traits.

Question 20

Shining a bar of light that is tilted by 45° will activate a cell, but it will not be activated by the same light at 0°. This cell is found to be

A) directionally selective.
B) contrast sensitive.
C) left-eye dominant.
D) orientation selective.
E) motion sensitive.

Question 21

What is the significance of blobs (cytochrome oxidase-positive regions) in the primary visual cortex?

A) These regions are part of the orientation column structure.
B) These regions contain cells sensitive to object motion.
C) These regions are binocular regions of cortex.
D) These regions contain color-sensitive cells.
E) These regions are the centers of "pinwheels."

Question 22

The _______ cells from the lateral geniculate nucleus project to the interblobs.

A) magnocellular
B) complex
C) koniocellular
D) x-cells
E) parvocellular

Question 23

Cells from blobs in primary visual cortex project to which of the following structures in V2?

A) Thick stripes
B) Pale stripes
C) Thin stripes
D) Bold stripes
E) The projection is diffuse

Question 24

Cells in V2 that receive information from blobs tend to have projections to which structure in V1?

A) Blobs
B) Interblobs
C) Thin stripes
D) Thick stripes
E) Pale stripes

Question 25

Thick stripes in V2 receive information primarily from

A) blobs.
B) parvocellular pathways.
C) magnocellular pathways.
D) thin stripes.
E) pale stripes.

Question 26

Magnocellular pathway information is important for processing _______ information in V2.

A) color
B) form
C) orientation
D) motion
E) contrast

Question 27

The transition between cortical areas V1 and V2 is marked by

A) a change in coloration of the tissue.
B) a change from blobs to stripes in tissue stained with cytochrome oxidase.
C) the size of single cells in layer 2.
D) the thickness of cortical layer 4.
E) a shift from ipsilateral to contralateral eye dominance.

Question 28

While recording from a cell in V1, you find that a cell responds best to a horizontal bar of light presented to the left eye, and that it responds better when the cell is green than when it is red. Which of the following structures are you most likely recording from?

A) Thin stripe
B) Thick stripe
C) Pale stripe
D) Blob
E) Interblob

Question 29

Injection of horseradish peroxidase in thin stripes results in label in cells in

A) blobs in V1
B) thick stripes in V2
C) interblobs in V1
D) pale stripes in V2
E) M layers of the LGN

Question 30

Hubel and Wiesl proposed a "hypercolumn" in V1 as a unit that contains

A) all of the blobs that are connected to each other.
B) cortico-cortical connections between the two hemispheres.
C) all of the orientation columns for a single eye.
D) all of the thick, thin, and pale stripes for a particular region of the visual field.
E) all orientation columns, blobs, and ocular dominance columns for a particular region of the visual field

Question 31

When compared to ocular dominance columns, how are orientation columns arranged across the cortex?

A) The center of orientation columns are found at the borders of ocular dominance columns.
B) Orientation columns do not cross the borders of ocular dominance columns.
C) The center of orientation columns are found within ocular dominance columns.
D) Orientation columns are completely separate from ocular dominance columns.
E) Orientation columns are only found in areas that have binocular input.

Question 32

Cells that respond to a single orientation of light are arranged in

A) sheets across the cortical surface.
B) blobs within ocular dominance columns.
C) columns perpendicular to the cortical surface.
D) cubes, alternating by ocular dominance.
E) a column between adjacent ocular dominance columns.

Question 33

In an experiment, you inject a neuronal tracer into a cell with a horizontal orientation preference. What is true of the cells in the cortical areas this neuron will project to?

A) They will have a vertical orientation preference.
B) They will have a horizontal orientation preference.
C) They will have an oblique orientation preference.
D) They will have many orientation preferences, but not horizontal.
E) They will not display any patterns for orientation preference.

Question 34

Cortico-cortical connections in V1 can extend far beyond the dimensions of a hypercolumn, suggesting that

A) individual cells can integrate information from an area larger than their receptive field.
B) single cells process information for a single point in space.
C) receptive fields for the fovea are larger than receptive fields for the periphery.
D) groups of cells selective for a single eye are always interconnected.
E) information from distinct parts of the visual field are processed independently.

Question 35

The elongated receptive field of some cells in V1 can be accounted for by

A) long horizontal axon connections within primary visual cortex.
B) dense dendritic trees in layers 2 and 3 of primary visual cortex.
C) the connections of cells from the contralateral hemisphere via the corpus callosum.
D) intermingling of connections from the LGN in layer 4 of the primary visual cortex.
E) connections from V2 back onto V1 cells.

Question 36

Cells that respond to depth are often found in

A) V1.
B) V2.
C) association areas of visual cortex.
D) the LGN.
E) the retina.

Question 37

Adjacent hypercolumns will provide information about

A) distinct regions of the visual field.
B) alternating eye dominance (ipsilateral vs contralateral).
C) adjacent, overlapping parts of the visual field.
D) different visual properties for the same region of the visual field.
E) adjacent orientations of visual stimuli.

Question 38

Which results provide evidence for longitudinal connections among cells in V1?

A) Cortical cells respond to stimuli outside their receptive field after a lesion in the retina.
B) Injections of neuronal dye show that neurons only project to the same eye-specific layers in V1.
C) Monkeys that have one eye covered show evidence of ocular dominance columns in V1.
D) Blobs and interblobs connect to stripes in V2.
E) Magnocellular and parvocellular pathways are segregated in V1.

Question 39

When simultaneously recording from two cells in separate ocular dominance columns in V1, you notice that the firing patterns of these two cells are remarkably similar. What does this suggest?

A) These two cells have different receptive fields.
B) These two cells are connected through an intercortical connection.
C) These two cells cannot both be in V1; one must be in V2.
D) These two cells receive input from both the ipsilateral and contralateral LGN.
E) These two cells are on opposite sides of an orientation column.

Question 40

Unlike other cells, neurons in V1 with receptive fields that straddle the midline rely on axons that travel in the

A) optic chiasm.
B) optic disc.
C) optic nerve.
D) corpus callosum.
E) hypothalamus.

Question 41

Cells in V1 that have receptive fields that straddle middle of the visual field are found

A) at the very caudal part of V1.
B) in the middle of V1.
C) along the boundary of V1 and V2.
D) at the dorsal edge of V1.
E) along the ventral portion of V1.

Question 42

Which structure is especially important for reconstructing the whole visual field after processing by primary visual cortex?

A) Optic nerve
B) Optic chiasm
C) Corpus callosum
D) Corona radiata
E) Optic disc

Question 43

Which visual analysis does not appear to be processed by cells in primary visual cortex?

A) Orientation
B) Direction
C) Color
D) Depth
E) Color

Question 44

Briefly describe the arrangement of cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus and describe their output.

Question 45

What are the two types of principal cells in the primary visual cortex? How do they differ

Question 46

If an anterograde dye is injected into a single layer of the lateral geniculate nucleus, what will the resulting pattern of axons look like in the primary visual cortex? Why?

Question 47

What is meant by "ocular dominance column"? Describe the arrangement of ocular dominance columns found in primary visual cortex.

Question 48

Why is the representation of the fovea disproportionately larger than the periphery in the primary visual cortex?

Question 49

Describe the retinotopic organization of the cortex.

Question 50

You are conducting an experiment in which you inject radioactive amino acids into one eye. Several days later, you examine the visual cortex. What results do you see? Provide an interpretation for your observations.

Question 51

What is meant by an "orientation column?" Describe the arrangement of orientation columns found in primary visual cortex.

Question 52

Briefly, describe how blobs and interblobs in V1 connect with stripes in V2.

Question 53

What characterizes cells in blobs? What does this suggest about their function?

Question 54

What is the functional significance of the magnocellular input to visual cortex?

Question 55

Describe how Hubel and Wiesel envisioned the arrangement of hypercolumns in V1.

Question 56

How are the horizontal projections in V1 arranged? How do we know?

Question 57

Describe the progression of the magnocellular pathway at each stage from the retina to the association areas of visual cortex.

Question 58

You are recording visual responses from a cell in V1, with a receptive field on the midline of the visual field. Next, you cool the fibers of the corpus callosum, inactivating them. What results would you expect to find? Why?