[Functional anatomy of the cerebral cortex implicated in visual processing].
OBJECTIVE
The functional anatomy of the cerebral cortex implicated in vision is reviewed with the purpose of illustrating the complexity of the cortical processing in visual perception.


METHODS
A brief analysis of the retinogeniculocortical pathway is presented and a summary of the main findings of the physiological and anatomical studies of Hubel and Wiesel in the adult brain is also illustrated. Special attention is paid in showing the visual pathways for object and face recognition as well as spatial cognition.


CONCLUSIONS
Visual cortical areas in primates and man can be divided roughly into a ventral stream in relation with the temporal lobe responsible for the processing and storage of information about the identity of objects, their shape, color, and other salient physical features; and a dorsal stream in relation with the parietal lobe and concerned with the analysis of the locations of objects, and their movements in space. These two cortical pathways are not totally segregated and both are related to the prefrontal cortex as well as other subcortical structures such as the thalamus, the basal ganglia, the superior colliculus and the cerebellum through the pontine nuclei.
Giménez-Amaya
J M
JM
Departamento de Anatomía, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, España. jmga@unav.es
D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D009462:Neurology / Q000266:history; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014481:United States; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology
Anatomía funcional de la corteza cerebral implicada en los procesos visuales.