Visual Discrimination

Excerpt

Visual discrimination is the ability to detect differences and classify objects, symbols, or shapes based on characteristics such as color, position, form, pattern, texture, and size. In the simplest terms, the eyes receive input from the environment, and various cells detect and transmit signals to the brain. Specifically, the visual cortex, located in the occipital lobe, is responsible for processing the shape and orientation of objects. The 3 cell types in the primary visual cortex—simple, complex, and hypercomplex—demonstrate correspondingly increased ability to respond to motion and degree of linearity. A more detailed explanation of the visual cortex is covered in a separate neuroanatomy topic. Please see StatPearls' companion resource, "Neuroanatomy, Visual Cortex," for more information.