visual system

As we travel farther from the retina, neurons fire to stimuli that are more complex. In your response to this essay question, trace the route of the visual system, starting with a stimulus in the environment, and describe the responses that occur at each stop in the visual system (beginning with the visual sensory receptors and ending with information leaving the primary visual cortex). In your response, be sure to identify each stage of the visual system in a SEPARATE paragraph, and in discussing the stage of the process include what we know about the flow of information in that stage, as well as what we know about the receptive field(s) of the neurons present.

This question is not asking about the steps in the perceptual process, but rather steps in the visual system (i.e. from light hitting rods and cones in the retina to information eventually leaving the primary visual cortex). In your answer you should trace the neural pathway that information follows as it leaves the retina, discussing the receptors present (starting with the retina and finishing with the primary visual cortex), as well as discussing the flow of information (what structures process information along the way) and their characteristics (how does information com in/go out, what are the properties of the receptive fields in the neurons).