FoundationalConceptsNeuroscience

Lateral geniculate nuclei

Figure 14.7. Coronal section showing location of the lateral geniculate nuclei.

The LGN cells send axons into the rearmost region of the cerebral
cortex, the posterior occipital lobe, where they form synapses with
cortical neurons. As is the case with the LGN, the right occipital lobe is
receiving information from the left visual field, and the left occipital
lobe from the right visual field. This crossing over of information
between the spatial environment (visual space) and the brain is called
contralateral connectivity.

In the human brain, the occipital lobes, together with posterior
regions of the temporal lobes, are involved in the analysis of visual
information. This region of the brain is called the visual cortex. From
the LGN, information first goes to a region in the posterior occipital