The occipital lobe is one of the four lobes of the cerebral cortex and is responsible for visual processing.  It is located on the posterior of the cortex. The occipital lobe receives projections from the thalamus that originate from the retina. There are two pathways that project from the occipital lobe and send out visual information. The dorsal pathway goes to the parietal lobe and the ventral goes to the temporal lobe. Damage to the occipital lobe results in some form of blindness.