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- Glossary
Parvocellular
"Parvus" means "small." In the lateral geniculate nucleus, the switching station for visual stimuli in the thalamus, the outer four layers are called parvocellular because, unlike the magnocellular cell layers, they have small cell bodies. The parvocellular system transmits information for the perception of color and fine details.
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- Glossary
Visual pathway
The visual pathway refers to the network of nerve cells involved in visual perception. In mammals, it runs from the retinal ganglion cells in the eye – as the optic nerve to the optic chiasm, then as the visual tract – via the only switching point in the lateral geniculate nucleus to the primary visual cortex.
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- Glossary
Visual radiation
The optic radiation – also known as Gratiolet's optic radiation after its discoverer – distributes visual impulses from the lateral geniculate nucleus to the comparatively very large primary visual cortex.
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- Glossary
Optic tract
The optic tract refers to the optic nerve after half of the fibers have crossed sides at the optic chiasm. However, it still consists of the axons (long fiber-like extensions) of the retinal ganglion cells. Most of the optic tract ends in the lateral geniculate nucleus, while others end in the superior colliculi, among other places.
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- Glossary
Visual system
The visual system is the part of the nervous system that processes visual information. It primarily comprises the eye, the optic nerve, the optic chiasm, the optic tract, the lateral geniculate nucleus, the optic radiation, the primary visual cortex, and the visual association cortices.
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- Basics
- Anatomy
The Occipital Lobe
The sophisticated interconnection of the occipital lobe demonstrates just how complex the visual process is.
28.08.2025
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- Basics
- Anatomy
The Flocculonodular Lobe
The oldest part of the cerebellum is primarily concerned with balance.
05.08.2025
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- Discover
- Milestones
Hubel and Wiesel: Cutting the Lawn with Nail Scissors
Hubel and Wiesel worked diligently to establish fundamental knowledge about visual information processing.
26.09.2012
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Glossary
15.03.2017
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- News from the Institutes
AI looks deeper into visual system
Artificial intelligence models provide insights to understand the processing of visual stimuli in the brain
10.04.2025
