Receptive Fields

Receptive fields refer to the specific region of sensory space—such as the part of the visual field—that a particular neuron responds to or is sensitive to. In the context of the visual system, for example, a neuron in your brain might only react when light hits a certain part of your retina. The size and shape of this area define that neuron's receptive field. Understanding receptive fields helps explain how your brain processes complex sensory information by combining signals from multiple neurons, each attentive to different parts of the environment.