The visual association cortex surrounds the primary visual cortex and includes Brodmann areas 18 and 19 and further areas in the temporal and parietal lobes. From here, information splits into a ventral stream to the temporal lobe (what an object is) and a dorsal stream to the parietal lobe (where it is and how to act on it). Specialised areas handle colour, motion, faces and words.
| Location | Occipital lobe around the primary visual cortex, extending into the inferior temporal and posterior parietal lobes |
|---|---|
| Parts |
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| Connections |
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| Blood Supply | Posterior cerebral artery; Middle cerebral artery |
Builds a meaningful picture of the world from basic visual signals: recognising objects, faces, words and colours, and judging location and motion.
Damage produces selective problems such as visual agnosia, prosopagnosia, loss of colour vision, loss of motion perception or Balint syndrome, depending on which area is affected. Visual hallucinations can arise from irritation of these areas or from loss of input (Charles Bonnet syndrome). Posterior cortical atrophy mainly affects these regions.
Inability to recognise objects by sight with intact basic vision, from ventral stream damage.
Inability to perceive more than one object at a time, inaccurate reaching and difficulty shifting gaze, from bilateral dorsal stream damage.
Degenerative condition, usually due to Alzheimer pathology, causing progressive visual processing problems.
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