<p>As Bryan Krause indicates in the comments, the statement that <em>'One third of the cortical surface is dedicated to vision processing'</em> is disputable. Especially given that fact that there's evidence that even the primary visual cortex is involved in multimodal processing <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/sensory-substitution-and-augmentation-9780197266441?cc=nl&amp;lang=en&amp;" rel="nofollow noreferrer">(MacPherson, 2018)</a>. Nonetheless, it is a valuable statement as it makes clear that a lot of our cortex <em>can</em> process visual stimuli and that it is an important sense for us. </p>

<p>If you need a reference for the one third statement, you can use <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763413001917" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Kupers &amp; Ptito (2014)</a> or <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/sensory-substitution-and-augmentation-9780197266441?cc=nl&amp;lang=en&amp;" rel="nofollow noreferrer">(MacPherson, 2018)</a>. Note that these references are secondary literature, <em>i.e.</em>, they are not research papers where they actually calculated the cortical surface involved in visual processing.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ljDIa.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ljDIa.jpg" alt="VisualAreas"></a><br>
<sup>Fig. 1. Functional areas of the cortex. Source: <a href="http://oer2go.org/mods/en-boundless/www.boundless.com/physiology/textbooks/boundless-anatomy-and-physiology-textbook/central-nervous-system-12/functional-systems-of-the-cerebral-cortex-121/association-areas-656-8927/images/cortical-areas-jpg/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Boundless Physiology Textbook</a></sup></p>

<p><sub><strong>References</strong><br>
<strong>-</strong> <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/sensory-substitution-and-augmentation-9780197266441?cc=nl&amp;lang=en&amp;" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MacPherson, <em>Sensory Substitution and Augmentation</em>, Proceedings of the British Academy 2018</a><br>
<strong>-</strong> <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763413001917" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Kupers &amp; Ptito, <em>Neurosci Biobehav Rev</em> (2014); <strong>41</strong>: 36–52</a></sub></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-05T06:42:51.690Z
Oh great...I am taking a look into the references. thank you ^_^
wisdom
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-04T12:45:26.667Z
2019-07-05T07:02:46.137Z
2019-07-05T07:02:46.137Z
AliceD
<p>Could somebody help please in providing some research papers or a resource book that states how much the visual cortex occupies of our cortex?</p>

<p>I am trying to find some reliable source but I couldn't find any other than one <a href="http://discovermagazine.com/1993/jun/thevisionthingma227" rel="nofollow noreferrer">article</a> mentioning it is 30%. But still I need to cite a reference.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-23T14:59:12.890Z
How would you define visual cortex?
Bryan Krause
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-23T18:23:27.290Z
doesn't the term by itself refer to the area of neurons that are responsible of visual responses (e.g. V1-V5, MT...etc.)?
wisdom
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-24T00:38:29.607Z
There's no completely clear boundary because as you go up the hierarchy cortex gets more and more multimodal.
Bryan Krause
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-24T06:51:14.877Z
then do I understand that, there is no clear statement in the literature defining how much the visual cortex occupies from the whole brain?
I remember we studied like 1/3 of the brain is dedicated only for visual processing...and I am trying to find it in some resources with no hope yet.
wisdom
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-24T15:38:28.333Z
You're probably best off just looking at a map of Brodmann areas or something and coming up with an estimate, or look at a standardized atlas if you want to calculate it yourself. I doubt you will actually find a publication that says "XX % of neocortex is visual" - there's too much nuance in terms of where you draw the boundaries (do motor areas involved in vision count? do areas that have visual responses but also respond to other modalities count? if so how to say an area is more visual than auditory, say), individual differences, gray versus white matter, etc.
Bryan Krause
<perception><reference-request><vision><brain>
Visual Cortex percentage
wisdom
# Visual Cortex percentage

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-06-23)

Could somebody help please in providing some research papers or a resource book that states how much the visual cortex occupies of our cortex?

I am trying to find some reliable source but I couldn't find any other than one [article](http://discovermagazine.com/1993/jun/thevisionthingma227) mentioning it is 30%. But still I need to cite a reference.

**Tags:** perception, reference-request, vision, brain

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: How would you define visual cortex?  
> **username_0**: doesn't the term by itself refer to the area of neurons that are responsible of visual responses (e.g. V1-V5, MT...etc.)?  
> **username_1**: There's no completely clear boundary because as you go up the hierarchy cortex gets more and more multimodal.  
> **username_0**: then do I understand that, there is no clear statement in the literature defining how much the visual cortex occupies from the whole brain? I remember we studied like 1/3 of the brain is dedicated only for visual processing...and I am trying to find it in some resources with no hope yet.  
> **username_1**: You're probably best off just looking at a map of Brodmann areas or something and coming up with an estimate, or look at a standardized atlas if you want to calculate it yourself. I doubt you will actually find a publication that says "XX % of neocortex is visual" - there's too much nuance in terms of where you draw the boundaries (do motor areas involved in vision count? do areas that have visual responses but also respond to other modalities count? if so how to say an area is more visual than auditory, say), individual differences, gray versus white matter, etc.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-07-04. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

As username_1 indicates in the comments, the statement that *'One third of the cortical surface is dedicated to vision processing'* is disputable. Especially given that fact that there's evidence that even the primary visual cortex is involved in multimodal processing [(MacPherson, 2018)](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/sensory-substitution-and-augmentation-9780197266441?cc=nl&lang=en&). Nonetheless, it is a valuable statement as it makes clear that a lot of our cortex *can* process visual stimuli and that it is an important sense for us.

If you need a reference for the one third statement, you can use [Kupers & Ptito (2014)](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763413001917) or [(MacPherson, 2018)](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/sensory-substitution-and-augmentation-9780197266441?cc=nl&lang=en&). Note that these references are secondary literature, *i.e.*, they are not research papers where they actually calculated the cortical surface involved in visual processing.

[![VisualAreas](https://i.sstatic.net/ljDIa.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/ljDIa.jpg)  
Fig. 1. Functional areas of the cortex. Source: [Boundless Physiology Textbook](http://oer2go.org/mods/en-boundless/www.boundless.com/physiology/textbooks/boundless-anatomy-and-physiology-textbook/central-nervous-system-12/functional-systems-of-the-cerebral-cortex-121/association-areas-656-8927/images/cortical-areas-jpg/index.html)

**References**  
**-** [MacPherson, *Sensory Substitution and Augmentation*, Proceedings of the British Academy 2018](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/sensory-substitution-and-augmentation-9780197266441?cc=nl&lang=en&)  
**-** [Kupers & Ptito, *Neurosci Biobehav Rev* (2014); **41**: 36–52](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763413001917)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Oh great...I am taking a look into the references. thank you ^_^  

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