Library · Anatomy
Occipital lobe
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The occipital lobe is the smallest of the four lobes that make up each half of the brain. It sits at the back, behind the parietal and temporal lobes. The image comes in through the eyes, but it is assembled at the back of the head: this lobe is mainly responsible for processing what we see.
On its inner surface runs a groove called the calcarine sulcus. Along its banks lies the primary visual cortex, also known as Brodmann area 17, after the system used to number the regions of the cortex. That is where the information leaving the retina, the layer at the back of the eye that captures light, arrives after a stopover in the thalamus.
Surrounding that primary cortex is the secondary visual cortex, areas 18 and 19, which receives the information the primary cortex has already processed. As a whole, the occipital lobe is involved in calculating depth, in perceiving color and in recognizing faces.
In brief
The occipital lobe, smallest of the four lobes of each hemisphere, sits behind the parietal and temporal lobes and processes visual input.
The image comes in through the eyes and is assembled at the back of the head.
On its medial surface, the banks of the calcarine sulcus hold the primary visual cortex, or Brodmann area 17, which receives input from the retina via the thalamus.
Around it, the secondary visual cortex, areas 18 and 19, receives information from the primary cortex and is associated with depth, color and faces.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingNeuroanatomy, Occipital Lobe, StatPearlsPublished
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