Results challenge conventional wisdom about where the brain begins processing visual information

Neuroscientists generally think of the front end of the human visual system as a simple light detection system. Now, however, a brain imaging study—published online by the journal Nature Neuroscience on Mar. 2—challenges this basic assumption. Using high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a team of researchers from Vanderbilt and Boston universities, have discovered that more complex processing occurs in the initial stages of the visual system than previously thought.