Of visual cortex

The first principal component is thought to be due to eye muscle movements that is, the component has nothing to do with the brain activity itself. On the other hand, the second principal component reflects some activity of visual cortex located on the dorsal side of brain, although not all the peaks are interpretable. Thus, nMDS can separate signals of interest even though they are masked by a one-order-larger component. 

Andro Zangaladze, Charles M. Epstein, Scott T. Grafton and K. Sathian, Involvement of visual cortex in tactile discrimination of orientation. Nature, 401 (1999), 587-591. 

Haglund, M.M. Optical imaging of visual cortex epileptic foci and propagation pathways. Epilepsia 53(sl), 87-97 (2012)... 

Hatcher, J.M., Pennell, K.D., Miller, G.W., 2008. Parkinson s disease and pesticides a toxicological perspective. Trends. Pharmacol. Sci. 29, 322-329. Hendler, T., Rotshtein, R, Yeshurun, Y, et al., 2003. Sensing the invisible differential sensitivity of visual cortex and amygdala to traumatic context. 

Methanol intoxication can cause blindness due to damage to ganglion cells in the retina. The blindness results from the accumulation of formaldehyde and formic acid, which are metabolites of methanol. Chemical compounds can also damage the visual cortex, for example, visual damage was observed among the victims of organic mercury intoxication in Japan (the fishermen of Minamata Bay). ... 

The temporal lobe is the inferior middle portion of the cerebral cortex of both hemispheres. The temporal lobes are involved in the analysis of visual and acoustic information and in memory formation. The hippocampus is part of the inner, medial side of the temporal lobes. 

An increased level of exploratory activity immediately after exposure, attributed to reduced anxiety on the part of the rats, was also observed in this study. Decreased avoidance was observed in rats exposed to 125 ppm trichloroethylene 4 hours per day, 5 days per week for 30 days (Goldberg et al. 1964a). Changes in visually evoked potentials (Blain et al. 1992) and electroretinal responses to flash stimulation (Blain et al. 1994) were seen in rabbits exposed to 350 ppm trichloroethylene for 12 weeks (4 days/week, 4 hours/day). The study authors suggested that binding of trichloroethanol to blood proteins may enable it to reach the visual cortex. 

At its most fundamental level, the circadian cycle rests on the influence of so-called clock genes . These genes have been studied most extensively in insects but they have also been found in humans. Their protein products enter the cell nucleus and regulate their own transcription. This feedback process is linked to exposure to light and so it is not surprising that visual inputs are important for maintenance of circadian rhythms. However, it is not the reception of specific visual information, transmitted in the optic nerve to the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and visual cortex (i.e. visual discrimination), that is responsible for the rhythm but the more simple, almost subconscious, reception of light. 

Kosofsky, B.E. Molliver, M.E. Morrison, J.H. and Foote, S.L. The serotonin and norepinephrine innervation of primary visual cortex in the Cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis). J Comp Neurol 230 168-178, 1984. 

Wilson, M.A., and Molliver, M.E. Serotonin iimervation in visual areas of cerebral cortex in macaque monkeys Laminar distribution of tine and beaded axons. Abstr Soc Neurosci 15 5686, in press. 

Altmann L,Gutowski M, Wiegand H. 1994. Effects of maternal lead exposure on functional plasticity in the visual cortex and hippocampus of immature rats. Develop Brain Res 81 50-56. 

Named for the bones of the cranium under which they lie, the lobes are conspicuously defined by prominent sulci of the cortex, which have a relatively constant position in human brains. Each lobe is specialized for different activities (see Figure 6.3). Located in the anterior portions of the hemispheres, the frontal lobes are responsible for voluntary motor activity, speaking ability, and higher intellectual activities. The parietal lobes, which are posterior to the frontal lobes, process and integrate sensory information. The occipital lobes, located in the posterior-most aspects of the cerebrum, process visual information, and the temporal lobes, located laterally, process auditory information. 

The posterior parietal cortex is located posterior to the somatosensory cortex and serves as its unimodal association area. In addition to further processing of somatosensory input, information from the somatosensory cortex is integrated with visual inputs in this region. Association tracts from both the somatosensory cortex and the visual cortex terminate here. This activity is important for planning complex movements and for hand (prop-rioception)-eye (visual) coordination. 

Hilbig, H. Punkt, K. (1997). 24-hour rhythmicity of NADPH-diaphorase activity in the neuropil of rat visual cortex. Brain Res. Bull. 43, 337-40. 

Hensch, T. K., Fagiolini, M., Mataga, N. et al. Local GABA circuit control of experience-dependent plasticity in developing visual cortex. Science 282 1504-1508,1998. 

Pizzorusso, T., Medini, P., Berardi, N., Chierzi, S., Fawcett, J. W. and Maffei, L. Reactivation of ocular dominance plasticity in the adult visual cortex. Science 298 1248-1251, 2002. 

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