Retinotopy (from Greek τόπος, place) is the mapping of visual input from the retina to neurons, particularly those neurons within the visual stream. For clarity, 'retinotopy' can be replaced with 'retinal mapping', and 'retinotopic' with 'retinally mapped'. Visual field maps (retinotopic maps) are found in many amphibian and mammalian species, though the specific size, number, and spatial arrangement of these maps can differ considerably. Sensory topographies can be found throughout the brain and are critical to the understanding of one's external environment. Moreover, the study of sensory topographies and retinotopy in particular has furthered our understanding of how neurons encode and organize sensory signals. Retinal mapping of the visual field is maintained through various points of the visual pathway including but not limited to the retina, the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus, the optic tectum, the primary visual cortex (V1), and higher visual areas (V2-V4). Retinotopic maps in cortical areas other than V1 are typically more complex, in the sense that adjacent points of the visual field are not always represented in adjacent regions of the same area. For example, in the second visual area (V2), the map is divided along an imaginary horizontal line across the visual field, in such a way that the parts of the retina that respond to the upper half of the visual field are represented in cortical tissue that is separated from those parts that respond the lower half of the visual field. Even more complex maps exist in the third and fourth visual areas V3 and V4, and in the dorsomedial area (V6). In general, these complex maps are referred to as second-order representations of the visual field, as opposed to first-order (continuous) representations such as V1. Additional retinotopic regions include ventral occipital (VO-1, VO-2), lateral occipital (LO-1, LO-2), dorsal occipital (V3A, V3B), and posterior parietal cortex (IPS0, IPS1, IPS2, IPS3, IPS4).

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Topographic map (neuroanatomy)
A topographic map is the ordered projection of a sensory surface, like the retina or the skin, or an effector system, like the musculature, to one or more structures of the central nervous system. Topographic maps can be found in all sensory systems and in many motor systems. Retinotopy The visual system refers to the part of the central nervous system that allows an organism to see. It interprets information from visible light to build a representation of the world.
Receptive field
The receptive field, or sensory space, is a delimited medium where some physiological stimuli can evoke a sensory neuronal response in specific organisms. Complexity of the receptive field ranges from the unidimensional chemical structure of odorants to the multidimensional spacetime of human visual field, through the bidimensional skin surface, being a receptive field for touch perception. Receptive fields can positively or negatively alter the membrane potential with or without affecting the rate of action potentials.
Optic chiasm
In neuroanatomy, the optic chiasm, or optic chiasma (pronQptIk_kaIaezəm; , ), is the part of the brain where the optic nerves cross. It is located at the bottom of the brain immediately inferior to the hypothalamus. The optic chiasm is found in all vertebrates, although in cyclostomes (lampreys and hagfishes), it is located within the brain. This article is about the optic chiasm of vertebrates, which is the best known nerve chiasm, but not every chiasm denotes a crossing of the body midline (e.g.
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