Vision

Pierre Buser is Professor in the Department of Comparative Neurophysiology at the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris. Michel Imbert is Professor in the Department of Visual Neuroscience at the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie. R. H. Kay is Emeritus Fellow of Keble College, Oxford.

Part 1 Structure and organization of the retina: general organization; receptors and the pigment epithelium; topographic differences in receptor distributions; distribution of optic nerve fibres, visual fields, and binocular vision - phylogenetic aspects; intermediate cellular layers; ganglion cell layer; glial cells; efferent nerve fibres. Part 2 The physical characteristics of visual stimuli: radiant energy - the fundamental radiometric units; light energy - fundamental photometric units; colorimetric units and quantities. Part 3 The psychophysical laws of visual sensation: problems concerned with absolute thresholds; adaptation in the retina; simultaneous contrast, visual acuity, and spatial frequency resolution; temporal effects - temporal resolution; movement perception; real colour vision; afterimages; visual space. Part 4 Genesis and elaboration of signals in the retina: retinal photochemistry; the electroretinogram; the operation of retinal receptors; the neuronal network in the retina; coding of the spatiotemporal characteristics of light stimuli. Part 5 Mechanisms in the central visual pathways: the midbrain visual centres; the lateral geniculate body; the visual areas of the cortex; the developing visual system.