Occipital Lobe

"The brain is a world consisting of a number of unexplored continents and great stretches of unknown territory." - Santiago Ramón y Cajal

Location

The occipital lobe takes up the back portion of the brain. See the image below to find the location of the occipital lobe.

Occipital Lobe Diagram

By Anatomography - en:Anatomography (setting page of this image), CC BY-SA 2.1 jp, Link

Functions

Vision is the main function of the occipital lobe. The primary visual cortex which is located here interprets visual stimuli and information that comes in through the retinas of the eyes. From the information collected here, the occipital lobe can interpret characteristics of what is being seen such as depth, distance, location and identity.

Interesting Facts

Damage to the occipital lobe could lead to:
  1. difficulty recognizing objects

  2. inability to identify colors

  3. trouble recognizing words