Occipital lobe - wikipedia Occipital lobe Occipital lobe Frontal lobe Temporal lobe Parietal lobe Occipital lobe Lobes of the human brain ( the occipital lobe is shown in red ) Medial surface of left cerebral hemisphere. ( cuneus and lingual gyrus are at left. ) Details Part of cerebrum Artery posterior cerebral artery Identifiers Latin lobus occipitalis MeSH A08. 186.211. 730.885. 213.571 NeuroNames hier - 122 NeuroLex ID Occipital lobe TA A14. 1.09. 132 FMA 67325 Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy ( edit on Wikidata ) The occipital lobe is one of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex in the brain of mammals. The occipital lobe is the visual processing center of the mammalian brain containing most of the anatomical region of the visual cortex. The primary visual cortex is Brodmann area 17, commonly called V1 ( visual one ). Human V1 is located on the medial side of the occipital lobe within the calcarine sulcus ; the full extent of V1 often continues onto the posterior pole of the occipital lobe. V1 is often also called striate cortex because it can be identified by a large stripe of myelin, the Stria of Gennari. Visually driven regions outside V1 are called extrastriate cortex. There are many extrastriate regions, and these are specialized for different visual tasks, such as visuospatial processing, color differentiation, and motion perception. The name derives from the overlying occipital bone, which is named from the Latin ob, behind, and caput, the head. Bilateral lesions of the occipital lobe can lead to cortical blindness ( See Anton 's syndrome ). Contents 1 Structure 2 Function 3 Clinical significance 3.1 Epilepsy 4 Additional images 5 See also 6 References Structure Animation. Occipital lobe ( red ) of left cerebral hemisphere. The two occipital lobes are the smallest of four paired lobes in the human cerebral cortex. Located in the rearmost portion of the skull, the occipital lobes are part of the forebrain. None of the cortical lobes are defined by any internal structural features, but rather by the bones of the head bone that overlie them. Thus, the occipital lobe is defined as the part of the cerebral cortex that lies underneath the occipital bone. ( See the human brain article for more information. ) The lobes rest on the tentorium cerebelli, a process of dura mater that separates the cerebrum from the cerebellum. They are structurally isolated in their respective cerebral hemispheres by the separation of the cerebral fissure. At the front edge of the occipital are several lateral occipital gyri, which are separated by lateral occipital sulcus. The occipital aspects along the inside face of each hemisphere are divided by the calcarine sulcus. Above the medial, Y - shaped sulcus lies the cuneus, and the area below the sulcus is the lingual gyrus. Damage to the primary visual areas of the occipital lobe can leave a person with partial or complete blindness. Function The occipital lobe is divided into several functional visual areas. Each visual area contains a full map of the visual world. Although there are no anatomical markers distinguishing these areas ( except for the prominent striations in the striate cortex ), physiologists have used electrode recordings to divide the cortex into different functional regions. The first functional area is the primary visual cortex. It contains a low - level description of the local orientation, spatial - frequency and color properties within small receptive fields. Primary visual cortex projects to the occipital areas of the ventral stream ( visual area V2 and visual area V4 ), and the occipital areas of the dorsal stream -- visual area V3, visual area MT ( V5 ), and the dorsomedial area ( DM ). The ventral stream is known for the processing the `` what '' in vision, while the dorsal stream handles the `` where / how. '' This is because the ventral stream provides important information for the identification of stimuli that are stored in memory. With this information in memory, the dorsal stream is able to focus on motor actions in response to the outside stimuli. Although numerous studies have shown that the two systems are independent and structured separately from another, there is also evidence that both are essential for successful perception, especially as the stimuli takes on more complex forms. For example, a case study using fMRI was done on shape and location. The first procedure consisted of location tasks. The second procedure was in a lit - room where participants were shown stimuli on a screen for 600 ms. They found that the two pathways play a role in shape perception even though location processing continues to lie within the dorsal stream. The dorsomedial ( DM ) is not as thoroughly studied. However, there is some evidence that suggests that this stream interacts with other visual areas. A case study on monkeys revealed that information from V1 and V2 areas make up half the inputs in the DM. The remaining inputs are from multiple sources that have to do with any sort of visual processing A significant functional aspect of the occipital lobe is that it contains the primary visual cortex. Retinal sensors convey stimuli through the optic tracts to the lateral geniculate bodies, where optic radiations continue to the visual cortex. Each visual cortex receives raw sensory information from the outside half of the retina on the same side of the head and from the inside half of the retina on the other side of the head. The cuneus ( Brodmann 's area 17 ) receives visual information from the contralateral superior retina representing the inferior visual field. The lingula receives information from the contralateral inferior retina representing the superior visual field. The retinal inputs pass through a `` way station '' in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus before projecting to the cortex. Cells on the posterior aspect of the occipital lobes ' gray matter are arranged as a spatial map of the retinal field. Functional neuroimaging reveals similar patterns of response in cortical tissue of the lobes when the retinal fields are exposed to a strong pattern. Clinical significance If one occipital lobe is damaged, the result can be homonymous hemianopsia vision loss from similarly positioned `` field cuts '' in each eye. Occipital lesions can cause visual hallucinations. Lesions in the parietal - temporal - occipital association area are associated with color agnosia, movement agnosia, and agraphia. Damage to the primary visual cortex, which is located on the surface of the posterior occipital lobe, can cause blindness due to the holes in the visual map on the surface of the visual cortex that resulted from the lesions. Epilepsy Recent studies have shown that specific neurological findings have affected idiopathic occipital lobe epilepsies. Occipital lobe seizures are triggered by a flash, or a visual image that contains multiple colors. These are called flicker stimulation ( usually through TV ) these seizures are referred to as photo - sensitivity seizures. Patients having experienced occipital seizures described their seizures as featuring bright colors, and severely blurring their vision ( vomiting was also apparent in some patients ). Occipital seizures are triggered mainly during the day, through television, video games or any flicker stimulatory system. Occipital seizures originate from an epileptic focus confined within the occipital lobes. They may be spontaneous or triggered by external visual stimuli. Occipital lobe epilepsies are etiologically idiopathic, symptomatic, or cryptogenic. Symptomatic occipital seizures can start at any age, as well as any stage after or during the course of the underlying causative disorder. Idiopathic occipital epilepsy usually starts in childhood. Occipital epilepsies account for approximately 5 % to 10 % of all epilepsies. Additional images Base of brain. Drawing to illustrate the relations of the brain to the skull. Occipital lobe in blue Occipital lobe Occipital lobe Ventricles of brain and basal ganglia. Superior view. Horizontal section. Deep dissection See also Neuroscience portal Medical portal This article uses anatomical terminology ; for an overview, see Anatomical terminology. Lobes of the brain Regions of the human brain Sulcus Lunatus Visual evoked potential Vertical occipital fasciculus Visual Snow References Wikimedia Commons has media related to Occipital lobe. Jump up ^ `` SparkNotes : Brain Anatomy : Parietal and Occipital Lobes ''. Archived from the original on 2007 - 12 - 31. Retrieved 2008 - 02 - 27. Jump up ^ Schacter, D.L., Gilbert, D.L. & Wegner, D.M. ( 2009 ). Psychology. ( 2nd ed. ). New Work ( NY ) : Worth Publishers. Jump up ^ ( Valyear, Culham, Sharif, Westwood, & Goodale, 2006 ). Jump up ^ ( Valyear et al., 2006 ). Jump up ^ Carlson, Neil R. ( 2007 ). Psychology : the science of behaviour. New Jersey, USA : Pearson Education. p. 115. ISBN 978 - 0 - 205 - 64524 - 4. Jump up ^ Chilosi, Anna Maria ; Brovedani ( November 2006 ). `` Neuropsychological Findings in Idiopathic Occipital Lobe Epilepsies ''. Epilepsia. 47 ( s2 ) : 76 -- 78. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1528 - 1167.2006. 00696. x. PMID 17105468. Jump up ^ Destina Yalçin, A. ; Kaymaz, A. ; Forta, H. ( 2000 ). `` Reflex occipital lobe epilepsy ''. Seizure. 9 ( 6 ) : 436 -- 441. doi : 10.1053 / seiz. 2000.0424. ^ Jump up to : Adcock, Jane E ; Panayiotopoulos, Chrysostomos P ( 31 October 2012 ). `` Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology ''. Occipital Lobe Seizures and Epilepsies. 29 ( 5 ) : 397 -- 407. doi : 10.1097 / wnp. 0b013e31826c98fe. PMID 23027097. Anatomy of the cerebral cortex of the human brain Frontal lobe Superolateral Prefrontal Superior frontal gyrus 6 8 Middle frontal gyrus 9 10 46 Inferior frontal gyrus : 11 47 - Pars orbitalis Broca 's area 44 - Pars opercularis 45 - Pars triangularis Superior frontal sulcus Inferior frontal sulcus Precentral Precentral gyrus Precentral sulcus Medial / inferior Prefrontal Superior frontal gyrus 6 Medial frontal gyrus 8 9 Paraterminal gyrus / Paraolfactory area 12 Straight gyrus 11 Orbital gyri / Orbitofrontal cortex 10 11 12 Ventromedial prefrontal cortex 10 Subcallosal area 25 Olfactory sulcus Orbital sulcus Precentral Paracentral lobule Paracentral sulcus Both Primary motor cortex Premotor cortex 6 Supplementary motor area 6 Supplementary eye field 6 Frontal eye fields 8 Parietal lobe Superolateral Superior parietal lobule 5 7 Inferior parietal lobule 40 - Supramarginal gyrus 39 - Angular gyrus Parietal operculum 43 Intraparietal sulcus Medial / inferior Paracentral lobule 5 Precuneus 7 Marginal sulcus Both Postcentral gyrus / Primary somatosensory cortex Secondary somatosensory cortex 5 Posterior parietal cortex 7 Occipital lobe Superolateral Occipital pole of cerebrum Lateral occipital gyrus 18 19 Lunate sulcus Transverse occipital sulcus Medial / inferior Visual cortex 17 Cuneus Lingual gyrus Calcarine sulcus Temporal lobe Superolateral Transverse temporal gyrus / Auditory cortex 41 42 Superior temporal gyrus 38 22 / Wernicke 's area Middle temporal gyrus 21 Superior temporal sulcus Medial / inferior Fusiform gyrus 37 Medial temporal lobe 27 28 34 35 36 Inferior temporal gyrus 20 Inferior temporal sulcus Interlobar sulci / fissures Superolateral Central ( frontal + parietal ) Lateral ( frontal + parietal + temporal ) Parieto - occipital Preoccipital notch Medial / inferior Longitudinal fissure Cingulate ( frontal + cingulate ) Collateral ( temporal + occipital ) Callosal sulcus Limbic lobe Parahippocampal gyrus anterior Entorhinal cortex Perirhinal cortex Postrhinal cortex Posterior parahippocampal gyrus Prepyriform area Cingulate cortex / gyrus Subgenual area 25 Anterior cingulate 24 32 33 Posterior cingulate 23 31 Isthmus of cingulate gyrus : Retrosplenial cortex 26 29 30 Hippocampal formation Hippocampal sulcus Fimbria of hippocampus Dentate gyrus Rhinal sulcus Other Supracallosal gyrus Uncus Amygdala Insular cortex Insular cortex General Operculum Poles of cerebral hemispheres Some categorizations are approximations, and some Brodmann areas span gyri. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Occipital_lobe&oldid=806637985 '' Categories : Cerebrum Occipital lobe Hidden categories : Medicine infobox template using GraySubject or GrayPage Use dmy dates from April 2017 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Azərbaycanca Bosanski Català Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Euskara فارسی Français Gaeilge Galego 한국어 Íslenska עברית Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Polski Português Русский Simple English Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska Tagalog ไทย Türkçe Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 23 October 2017, at 07 : 55. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what does the occipital lobe of the brain control
Answer: visual processing center