Complete bilateral lesions of the occipital lobes produce cortical blindness, which is some times associated with unawareness or denial of blindness (Anton’s syndrome). According to functional studies BA17 clearly participates in the detection of light intensity, color recognition, and the detection of visual patterns. It also participates in visuo-spatial information processing, tracking motion and visual attention. fMRI studies have disclosed its involvement in some unexpected functions, such as visual priming, and word and face encoding; however in the latter case it is just one of the steps in a widespread network, including the bilateral frontal (BA44/45), occipital (BA17/18/19) and fusiform gyri (BA37) as well as the right hippocampal formation. Interestingly, BA17 is activated not only with the physical presentation of visual information, but also in mental imagery tasks
| Home | Introduction | Interact | Directory of Functions |