Analyze Map Extent for Visible Layers

is there a pythonic way of determing if a layer is visible within the dataframe extent in arcpy 10.1? Not unlike how the option in a legends property dialogue box--> Items tab--> Map Extent Options--> 'Only show classes that are visible in the current map extent' analyzes the map and toggles on and off legend items. I would like to analyze the current map extent and turn on and off layers.