[Verse 1] Light comes dancing through your pupil door Hits the retina like waves on shore Photons convert to electric fire Neural computation starts to wire Before a signal leaves the eye Twenty streams begin to fly Parallel channels, partly same Playing the visual processing game [Chorus] From retina to LGN relay Ninety percent will find their way To V1 where the paths divide Ventral stream for what's inside Dorsal stream for where and how The visual stack is working now Two highways in your cortex maze Processing all your visual days [Verse 2] Lateral geniculate holds the gate Thalamus checkpoint, information freight Primary visual cortex takes the lead V1 neurons plant the seeing seed Then the signal splits in two Different jobs for each crew Retinotopic maps unfold Dozen areas, story told [Chorus] From retina to LGN relay Ninety percent will find their way To V1 where the paths divide Ventral stream for what's inside Dorsal stream for where and how The visual stack is working now Two highways in your cortex maze Processing all your visual days [Bridge] Ventral sliding toward the temple zone Inferotemporal, identity's throne What am I seeing, face or tree Object recognition, mystery free Dorsal climbing parietal heights Motion and space, action's sights Where is it moving, how to reach Two streams with lessons each will teach [Verse 3] That's the cartoon, clean and neat But reality's more bittersweet Hidden complexity runs deep More than simple paths we keep Visual guidance needs both sides Cross-talk where the signal rides The stack's more tangled than we thought Beautiful chaos, finely wrought [Verse 4] Evolution built this seeing machine Million years of pressure keen From ancient light-sensing spots To cortical processing lots Every layer serves a role In constructing vision's goal From photon to perception's birth The miracle of sight on Earth [Final Chorus] From retina to LGN relay Multiple pathways light the way Beyond V1 where streams divide Ventral, dorsal, side by side Processing visual information flow The stack has secrets yet to show In your cortex, ancient and new The world takes shape in front of you
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