Occipital Lobe: Function, Location, and Structure

The occipital lobe is the rearmost lobe of the brain, located in the forebrain. It rests upon the tentorium cerebelli, a thick membrane of tissue the separates ... MENU (877)336-7192 ContactUs OccipitalLobe:Function,LocationandStructure TheOccipitalLobehelpswithvisualprocessingandmapping.Itislocatedundertheparietallobeandabovethetemporallobenearthebackofthebrain. Author:Spinalcord.comTeam PublishDate:Nov04,2020 BrainInjury LobesoftheBrain OccipitalLobe Theoccipitallobeistheseatofmostofthebrain'svisualcortex,allowingyounotonlytoseeandprocessstimulifromtheexternalworld,butalsotoassignmeaningtoandremembervisualperceptions.Locatedjustundertheparietallobeandabovethetemporallobe,theoccipitallobeisthebrain'ssmallestlobe,butitsfunctionsareindispensable. WhereistheOccipitalLobeLocated? Understandingtheoccipitalloberequiresabasicunderstandingofbrainanatomy.Thecerebralcortexofthebrain—apartofthebrainsharedbyallvertebrates—isthenewestpartofthebrain,evolutionarilyspeaking.Allmammalianbrainshavefourdistinctlobes,butthebrainitself—aswellasthelobesitcontains—isdividedintorightandlefthemispheres.Thismeansthateachlobecanactuallybedividedintotwoparts.Theoccipitallobeincludesarightandleftlobethatinteractwithoneanother,eachcontrollingarangeofvisualfunctions. Likeotherlobesofthebrain,theoccipitallobedoesnothaveclearinternalboundariesseparatingitfromtherestofthebrain.Instead,neuroscientistsusetheskull'sbonesastheirguide,sotheoccipitalloberestsunderneaththeoccipitalbone. Theoccipitallobeistherearmostlobeofthebrain,locatedintheforebrain.Itrestsuponthetentoriumcerebelli,athickmembraneoftissuetheseparatesthecerebrumfromtheevolutionarilyoldercerebellum. WhatDoestheOccipitalLobeDo? Studyingthebrainisadifficulttask,particularlysincesomeareascompensateforotherswhenthebrainsuffersdamage.Thebrain'ssensitive,dense,andcomplexnaturemeansthatresearchersareconstantlyuncoveringnewstructureswithinthebrain,andnewfunctionsforeachbrainlobe.Theoccipitallobeisnoexceptiontothisrule. Researchersoncethoughtthattheoccipitallobeonlycontrolledvisualfunctions.Butinrecentyears,theydiscoveredthatsomeportionsofthislobereceiveinputsfromotherbrainregions.Specifically,abrainregioncalledthedorsomedialstreamreceivesinputbothfromregionsofthebrainrelatedtovision,andtoareasthatarenotlinkedtovisualprocessing.Thissuggestseitherthattheoccipitallobemayperformadditionalfunctions,orthatresearchershavenotidentifiedallregionsofthebrainassociatedwithvisualprocessing. Althoughweknowthattheoccipitallobeisdedicatedtovision,thisprocessishighlycomplex,andincludesanumberofseparatefunctions.Thoseinclude: Mappingthevisualworld,whichhelpswithbothspatialreasoningandvisualmemory.Mostvisioninvolvessometypeofmemory,sincescanningthevisualfieldrequiresyoutorecallthatwhichyousawjustasecondago. Determiningcolorpropertiesoftheitemsinthevisualfield. Assessingdistance,size,anddepth. Identifyingvisualstimuli,particularlyfamiliarfacesandobjects. Transmittingvisualinformationtootherbrainregionssothatthosebrainlobescanencodememories,assignmeaning,craftappropriatemotorandlinguisticresponses,andcontinuallyrespondtoinformationfromthesurroundingworld. Receivingrawvisualdatafromperceptualsensorsintheeyes'retina. WhatAreSomeImportantStructuresintheOccipitalLobe? Likeallotherlobesofthebrain,theoccipitallobecontainsanumberofstructuresandneuronaltractsthatworktogethertoenablevision.Thoseinclude: Brodmannarea17:KnownasV1,thisregionislocatedintheoccipitallobe'scalcarinesulcus,andservesasthebrain'sprimaryvisualcortex.Itaidsthebraintodeterminelocation,spatialinformation,andcolordata. Theventralstream:KnownsometimesasV2,thisisasecondaryvisualcortexthathelpsthebrainassignmeaningtowhatitisseeing.WithoutV2,youwouldstillbeabletosee,butwouldhavenoconsciousawarenessoforunderstandingofthesightsyoureyestookin. Thedorsomedialstream:Neuroscientistsdon'tyethaveastrongunderstandingofthisbrainregion,whichconnectstobothV1andV2,aswellasotherbrainregions. Thelateralgeniculatebodies:Thesestructurestakeinopticinformationfromretinalsensorsineacheye,sendingrawinformationtoeachvisualcortex. Lingula:thisareareceivesinformationfromthecontralateralinferiorretinatogatherinformationaboutthefieldofvision. Brainimagingstudieshaverevealedthatneuronsonthebackofthegraymatteroftheoccipitallobecreateanongoingvisualmapofdatatakeninbytheretinas. HowDoestheOccipitalLobeInteractWithOtherAreasoftheBody? Nopartofthebrainisastandaloneorganthatcanfunctionwithoutinformationfromotherpartsofthebody.Theoccipitallobeisnoexception.Althoughitsprimaryroleistocontrolvision,damagetootherbrainregionsandbodypartscaninhibitvision.Moreover,someevidencesuggeststhat,whentheoccipitallobeisdamaged,nearbybrainregionsmaybeabletocompensateforsomeofitsfunctions.Theoccipitallobeisheavilydependenton: Theeyes,particularlytheretinas,whichtakeinandprocessvisualinformationtothenbefurtherprocessedbytheoccipitallobe.  Thefrontallobe,whichcontainsthebrain'smotorcortex.Withoutmotorskills,theeyescannotmoveortakeininformationfromsurroundingregions.  Thetemporallobe,whichhelpsassignmeaningtovisualinformation,inadditiontoencodingitintomemories. WhatHappensiftheOccipitalLobeisDamaged? Themostobviouseffectofdamagetotheoccipitallobeisblindness,butoccipitallobedamagecanhaveothersurprisingeffects: Epilepsy:Someseizuresoccurintheoccipitallobe,andoccipitallobedamageincreasesvulnerabilitytoseizures. Difficultieswithmovement:Evenifyouarestillabletomove,changesindepthperceptionandvisioncanleadtoinappropriatemovementsanddifficultynavigatingthevisualfield. Difficultiesperceivingcolors,shape,dimension,andsize. Difficultyrecognizingfamiliarobjectsorfaces. Hallucinations Inabilitytorecognizeorreadwrittenwords. Inabilitytodetectthatanobjectismoving. Difficultyreadingorwriting;forexample,thewordsmayappeartomoveonthepage. Difficultylocatingobjectswithintheenvironment,evenwhenyouareabletoseethoseobjects. Difficultieswithfineandgrossmotorskills,aswellasbalance. Sources OccipitalLobe:Facts,PositionInBrain,Summary&Function.BrainMadeSimple.PublishedSeptember26,2019.AccessedMay11,2020.LearnMore. RehmanA.Neuroanatomy,OccipitalLobe.StatPearls[Internet].PublishedJuly6,2019.AccessedMay11,2020.LearnMore. Occipitallobe.Healthline. AccessedMay11,2020. OccipitalLobes.CentreForNeuroSkills.AccessedMay11,2020.  true SpinalCordInjury TypesofSpinalCordInjuries SecondaryComplications Causes Symptoms Prognosis LegalHelp BrainInjury TypesofBrainInjuries Causes Symptoms Prognosis LegalHelp FindingTreatment PhysicianDirectory RehabilitationDirectory TechnologyAdvancements Prevention LegalOptions SpinalCordInjuryLawyer BrainInjuryLawyer TypesofPersonalInjuryClaims WhereToStart LocalAssistance AboutUs Spinalcordinjuriesaretraumaticforpatientsandtheirfamilies.Theycausedisruptivechangestoeveryaspectofyourlifeandthereisalotofnewinformationtonavigateandunderstand.Ourexpertshavecollectedeverythinginoneplacetohelpyoulearnmoreaboutyourinjury,locatedoctorsandtreatmentcenters,findfinancialsupport,andgetassistancenavigatingyournextmove. 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