The Occipital Lobe

The occipital lobe is responsible for processing and interpreting visual information. It is associated with many visual functions, which include: 

Function	Definition	Example
Depth and Distance Perception	The ability to see objects in three dimensions (length, width, and depth) and judge how far an object is	Walking through a crowd of people without bumping into others
Color Determination	The ability to recognize and identify colors	Finding a red pen to grade papers
Object and Face Recognition	The ability to recognize and identify faces and objects	Recognizing your friend at a mall
Memory Formation	The ability to remember information that was received and processed by the occipital lobe	Recalling the model of a car involved in an accident

 

These visual abilities are important because they help us interact with our environment and perform our everyday activities more easily and functionally.  

Damage to the occipital lobe may lead to: 

• Vision loss or blindness 
• Inability to identify colors 
• Hallucinations 

The location of the injury may also cause different types of vision loss.  

Location	Result
On one side of the occipital lobe	Visual field cut on the same side of both eyes   Can only see your right visual field if injury occurred on right portion of the occipital lobe  Can only see your left visual field if injury occurred on left portion of the occipital lobe
On both sides of the occipital lobe	Cortical blindness: total or partial loss of vision in a normal-appearing eye
On the back portion of the occipital lobe	Visual field cut on the same side of both eyes but can still maintain some vision in the middle of your visual field

 

There are general strategies that an individual with an occipital lobe injury can utilize. These include: 

• Visual scanning techniques  
• Using labels with large print 
• Using contrast to distinguish items, i.e., colored tape on edge of stairs 
• Using a magnifying glass  
• Maintaining good lighting around the house

References: 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK544320/#:~:text=The%20occipital%20lobe%20is%20the%20visual%20processing%20area%20of%20the,face%20recognition%2C%20and%20memory%20formation. 

https://www.brainandspinalcord.org/occipital-lobe-brain-injury/#:~:text=Located%20at%20the%20back%20of,vision%20loss%20or%20total%20blindness. 

For more TBI Glossary Terms, click here.