A rhesus monkey, Helen, from whom the striate cortex was almost totally removed, was studied intensively over a period of 8 years. During this time she regained an effective, though limited, degree of visually guided behaviour. The evidence suggests that while Helen suffered a permanent loss of ‘focal vision’ she retained (initially unexpressed) the capacity for ‘ambient vision’.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BrinkmanJ.KuypersH. G. J. M., 1973, “Cerebral control of contralateral and ipsilateral arm, hand and finger movements in the split-brain rhesus monkey”, Brain, 96, 653–674.
2.
CoweyA., 1974, “Atrophy of retinal ganglion cells after removal of striate cortex in a rhesus monkey”, Perception, 3, this issue.
3.
Denny-BrownD.ChambersR. W., 1955, “Visuomotor functions in the cerebral cortex”, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 121, 288–289.
4.
GardnerM., 1966, “Dermo-optical perception: A peek down the nose”, Science, 151, 654–658.
5.
HumphreyN. K., 1970, “What the frog's eye tells the monkey's brain”, Brain, Behavior and Evolution, 3, 324–337.
6.
HumphreyN. K., 1972, “Seeing and nothingness”, New Scientist, 53, 682–684.
7.
HumphreyN. K.WeiskrantzL., 1967, “Vision in monkeys after removal of the striate cortex”, Nature, 215, 595–597.
8.
KlüverH., 1942, “Functional significance of the geniculostriate system”, Biological Symposia, 7, 253–299.
9.
KoffkaK., 1935, Principles of Gestalt Psychology (Routledge and Kegan Paul, London).
10.
MarksK. E.JaneJ. A., 1974, “Effects of visual cortical lesions upon ambulatory and static localisation of light in space”, Experimental Neurology, 42, 707–710.
11.
PolyakS., 1957, The Vertebrate Visual System (University of Chicago Press, Chicago).
12.
PoppelE.HeldR.FrostD., 1973, “Residual visual function after brain wounds involving the central visual pathways in man”, Nature, 243, 295–296.
13.
SandersM. D.WarringtonE. K.MarshallJ.WeiskrantzL., 1974, “‘Blindsight’: Vision in a field defect”, Lancet, 707–708.
14.
SchilderP.PasikP.PasikT., 1972, “Extrageniculostriate vision in the monkey. III. Circle vs. triangle and ‘red vs. green’ discrimination”, Experimental Brain Research, 14, 436–448.
15.
TrevarthenC. B., 1968, “Two mechanisms of vision in primates”, Psychologische Forschung, 31, 299–337.
16.
TrevarthenC. B.SperryR. W., 1973, “Perceptual unity of the ambient visual field in human commisurotomy patients”, Brain, 96, 547–570.
17.
TrevarthenC. B.TurskyB., 1969, “Recording horizontal rotations of head and eyes in spontaneous shifts of gaze”, Behavior Research Methods & Instrumentation, 1, 291–293.
18.
WeiskrantzL., 1963, “Contour discrimination in a young monkey with striate cortex ablation”, Neuropsychologia, 1, 145–164.
19.
WeiskrantzL., 1972, “Behavioural analysis of the monkey's visual nervous system”, Proceedings of the Royal Society (London), Series B, 182, 427–455.
20.
WeiskrantzL.CoweyA.DarlingtonC., 1973, “Spatial responses by destriated monkeys to brief flashes of light”, Brain Research, 66, 360.
