- major structures of the neuron: dendrites, axon, axon hillock, axon terminal, synaptic vesicles, synaptic cleft, neurotransmitters
- neural conduction: membrane potential, electrical force, diffusion force, membrane semipermeability, sodium/potassium pump, resting potential, graded potential, action potential
- inhibitory and excitatory post-synaptic potentials (IPSPs and EPSPs)
- comparative advantages and disadvantages of graded potentials and action potentials
- biological and psychological methods for studying perception: lesion, evoked potential, brain scans, single cell recording, introspection, experimental methods, psychophysical methods (method of constant stimuli, method of limits, method of adjustment, staircase, forced choice), direct scaling
- absolute threshold, difference threshold, jnd, Weber's Law
- psychometric function, psychophysical function
- signal detection theory: d'(discriminability), b (criterion),
- Stevens' Power Law, direct scaling (magnitude estimation)
- ganglion cell receptive fields, off-center vs on-center
- How ganglion cells respond to various types of stimulation
- lateral inhibition, center/surround antagonism
- lightness constancy, lightness (simultaneous) contrast, Mach bands, Hermann grid: What are they? How does ganglion cell behavior produce them?
- Magnocellular vs Parvocellular neurons (8 differences and their consequences for seeing), higher visual functions associated with M and P pathways
- Left/Right visual fields, ipsilateral vs contralateral
- Optic nerve, Optic chiasm, Optic tract
- Superior Colliculus - What happens there?
- Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN) - How is it organized, what happens there?
- LGN receptive field properties
- retinotopic map, cortical magnification
- Visual Cortex (also called Area 17, Striate Cortex, Occipital Lobe)
- Characteristics of cortical (simple, complex, and end-stopped) receptive fields (orientation, bar width, location, motion, binocularity, end-stopping)
- ambiguity problem in cortical cell responses
- Orientation and ocular dominance columns, hypercolumns
Updated August 15, 2004.