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Cortical Magnification refers to the number of neurons that are present in the visual cortex, neurons being responsible for processing stimuli information. While there are significant benefits to this process, there are also disadvantages that come with it. And yes, some of them are not only bad — they are ugly.   THE GOOD: The small region that is the center of the visual field (the fovea) is represented by a large number of neurons, which means that our visual acuity is greatest at the center of our visual field, at a focal point. In other words, the thing that we are most focused on gets the best representation. This is a good thing; it would be rather inefficient and impractical if we got more visual information about the things that we weren’t really interested in. THE BAD: Our peripheral vision acuity is not that great. We aren’t usually aware of how inadequate our peripheral vision is, because we instinctively make head movements to compensate for its inadequacy. It makes sense, though: since there are fewer neurons in this area, each neuron is responsible for a relatively large part of the visual field, which necessitates an increase in the size of the neurons’ receptive fields. THE UGLY: As if all the things I mentioned under “THE BAD” weren’t enough, there are some ugly ways that cortical magnification hinders us in life. For example, when you are trying to look like you are paying attention in class, but really want to look at your neighbor’s computer to see the latest celebrity gossip, it’s pretty impossible unless you actually make an obvious head-turn. Consequently, countless hours per year have to be spent actually paying attention in class, when we could have been getting the most recent updates on Britney Spears’s tragic meltdown and. 

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