What happens when you lose this lobe? You go blind. In a really interesting way.
Life Without Your Occipital Lobe
Here’s what it’s like to pop out the back of your brain.
The occipital lobe is one of the less-known brain structures that all humans carry about within their crania. Located at the back of the skull, just above the occipital protuberance (AKA the bump in the back of your head. Go ahead, feel it. Nobody’s watching.), the occipital lobe is perhaps most famous for being the place where “Yuri the trainer who trains” shot Bizu in Steve Martin’s Pink Panther (2006).
Bizu was killed by what Inspector Clouseau called “a perfect shot to the occipital lobe.” Unfortunately for Bizu, the shot must not have been too perfect. If it had been, Bizu had a good chance at survival. Survival after severe damage to the occipital lobe is possible because it is involved in but one process, a very important one: vision.
The occipital lobe houses the primary visual cortex of the brain. So-named because this is brain area that organizes vision. This structure is essential to understanding the visual world around you. The lobe doesn’t have any control over what your eyes do, it’s involved in identifying what they see. It does so through a technique known as cortical…
