Introduction

Ophthalmologists tend to view the striate cortex as an afferent structure that receives visual information mostly from the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). Indeed, most of our efforts as ophthalmologists center on the preservation or restoration of these inputs into the visual cortex. However, a wide variety of visual disorders may occur from damage to the visual cortex and its occipitofugal connections with associative visual areas. These syndromes are often called disorders of higher cortical function and remind us that the striate cortex is not the end of the line but the beginning of a complex system of visual analysis that ultimately leads to global awareness of the visual environment.