Chapter 6 Part 2

Question 1

How does light reach the retina ?

Answer 1

It passes through the cornea, the aqueous chamber, the lens and the vitreous chamber to reach the retina.

Question 2

What is the function of the cornea and the lens ?

Answer 2

They help to focus the image on the retina.

Question 3

Describe the retina

Answer 3

Human retina is like a deep cup. It is 3/4rths of a sphere with a dia of 22mms. There are 7 million cone cells and 7 00 million rod cells in the retina.

Question 4

What is the macula

Answer 4

The center of the retina is called the macula.

Question 5

What is the function of the rod cells and the cone cells

Answer 5

Cone cells - High acuity vision and colour

Rod cells - Sensitive to very dim light and quick moving objects

Question 6

What is the blind spot ?

Answer 6

Just medial to the macula, there is an area where the axons of the retinal ganglion leaves the eyeball. This is the optic nerve. Since there are no photoreceptors in this area, it is called the blindspot. It is 1.5mm to 2 mm.

Question 7

Does all mammals have macula

Answer 7

There is no distinct macula in all mammals except simian primates, instead many mammals have a horizontal concentration of retinal cells called the visual streak. This is useful for scanning horizon to detect the predators.

Question 8

Describe the colour channels in different animals.

Answer 8

Humans and related primates are trichromats - meaning they respond to 3 colurs RBG. Dogs and mice are dichromats meaning they are sensitive to two colours and can see a range of colours limited by the pigments.
Lampreys need to detect changes in water composition in order to breed therefore has 5 colour pigments . This means they need a 5 colour element television to look convincing.

Question 9

Describe the retinal cell layers

Answer 9

3 main cell layers of retina
Photoreceptor layer - Deepest layer. Furthest from the entry part of the light rays. Contains rods and cones. The light sensitive processes of the rods are partly embedded in the retinal pigmental epithelial layer. The exchange of retinoids between the RPE and photoreceptor is necessary for transduction.
Bipolar cell layer - Second layer. Contains bipolar cells, amacrine and horizontal cells. The role of bipolar cells is to receive information from the photoreceptors and send signals to the ganglion cells. Role of the amacrine and horizontal cells is to modulate the signals.
Ganglion cell layer - contain large ganglion cells that transmit information from the bipolar cells to the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus , the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus and the superior colliculus of the midbrain via the optic tract.

Question 10

What is the difference between signal processing in the macula and the edges of retina ?

Answer 10

In the edges of the retina the image is distorted due to the bipolar cells receiving signals from hundred or more rod cells. This is to increase sensitivity from dim light The macula, however, is specialised to receive signal from two or three cones, increasing our capacity to resolve fine detail.

Question 11

What are opsins?

Answer 11

Opsins are photopigment molecules which captures the light striking the rods and the cones and converts them to synaptic signals. This process is called transduction

Question 12

How is transduction different to other sensory systems?

Answer 12

Transduction causes closure of sodium channels in the photoreceptors causing hyperpolarisation of the membrane and reducing the amount of neurotransmitter released, whereas in other sensory systems, the neurons depolarised and increase the amount of neurotransmitter released.

Question 13

How does the bipolar cells respond to the neurotransmitter interupptions?

Answer 13

Half of the bipolar cell hyperpolarize decreasing the release of glutamate and the other half, invert the signal to depolarise and increase transmitter release. This is referred as on and off responses. These signals are further received by ganglion cells generating AP, which travels along the optic nerve, sending the information to the brain.

Question 14

How is the information processed in the temporal(lateral and nasal(medial) retinal?

Answer 14

Axons from the ganglion cells in the nasal retina crossover in the optic chiasm, sending information to the opposite side of the brain. the axons from the temporal retina do not crossover. In humans, 50% of the retina is temporal, while in rodents only 10% of the retina is temporal. Therefore, 10% of the fibres remain uncrossed in most mammals.

Question 15

What is cataract?

Answer 15

It is an expanding area of opacity that blocks useful vision in that eye. It is an entirely curable of blindness, which can be treated by replacing the affected lens.

Question 16

What happens when the optic chiasm is damged?

Answer 16

Most commonly damaged by pituitary tumours. When completely damaged, the person has vision immediately in the front and lateral visual fields are lost.

Question 17

Which part of the brain the visual field processed?

Answer 17

It is ipsilateral processing. Therefore, the right visual field is processed in the right hemisphere and the left visual field is processed in the left hemisphere.

Question 18

What is binocular vision?

Answer 18

Humans have eyes in front of the head, and having overlapping visual fields. This binocular vision enables high degree of stereoscopic vision and is very precise.

Question 19

Do humans have more than one cortical area that analyses vision?

Answer 19

They have primary visual cortex that analyse visual data. There are surrounding cortical areas that make meaning of the data for different functions such as face recognition and the circadian rhythm. Birds have detailed subsystems for detecting prey, looking at the food in the beak and for collision avoidance.

Question 20

Where is facial recognition area located?

Answer 20

It is located , along the fusiform gyrus on the medial side of the temporal lobe. It is close to area 17, the primary visual cortex.

Question 21

What is the pinna and why is it important?

Answer 21

It the folds of cartilage surrounding the ear canal. It serves to reflect and attenuate sound. It also modifies sound when we turn our heads in a was the brain can determine the direction it came from.

Question 22

Why is the auditory canal important?

Answer 22

It helps to amplify the sound.

Question 23

How is the sound transmitted to the inner ear?

Answer 23

The tympanic membrane vibrates and causes the tiny bones of the malleus, incus and stapes to vibrate and convert into high pressure sound vibrations in the fluid of the inner ear.

Question 24

Describe the cochlea and its functions.

Answer 24

The cochlea is the auditory receptor organ. It has three fluid filled chambers: the Scala media, Scala vestibuli and Scala tympani. The latter two contain perilymph(similar to extra cellular fluid) and Scala media contains endolymph(similar to intracellular fluid). These scalae are twisted into three spiral staircases.
A strip of sensory epithelium in the floor of Scala media is the organ of corti. It has hair cells which transform fluid waves into electrical nerve impulses. The hairs are columnar and covered in cilia. The tectorial membrane lies on top of the cilia and moves forth and back each cycle of sound changing the membrane potential each time.

Question 25

How is the auditory information transmitted from the organ of corti?

Answer 25

The cilia is connected to the auditory nerve which carries the information to the cochlear nucleus where it synapses. The cochlear nucleus then projects to both sides of the superior olive, where it synapses again. The superior olive projects to the inferior olive where it synapses and projects to the medial geniculate nucleus. The medial geniculate nucleus sends its fibres to the auditory cortex.

Question 26

What information does vestibular system convey?

Answer 26

It provides information on balance and head balance.

Question 27

What are the two vestibular systems for gathering information on the head position?

Answer 27

The semicircular canal system detects the movement of the head in any direction. Therefore it is called the dynamic vestibular system. The saccule and utricle system detects head position during rest. This is called the static vestibular system. There are three patches of hair cell in the semicircular canals and one for each saccule and utricle.

Question 28

What is the vestibular input useful for?

Answer 28

Coordinating of balance and eye movement with head and body position.

Reflexes uses these information to make constant adjustments being made to postural and eye movements.

It helps the eyes track an object no matter what.

It helps the coordination of eye movement uses a network including the vestibular system, the visual system, the cerebellum, the spinal cord and motor neurons of the eye muscles.

Question 29

Describe how the semicircular canals work.

Answer 29

The semicircular canals are three almos circular tubes which contain endolymph placed in a different spatial plane- one horizon, one vertical close to the saggital plane, and one vertical close to the coronal plane. When the head moves, the fluid moves in one or more of the three canals. Each canal has a widened are called the ampulla, which contains sensitive hair cells covered by a jelly called the cupula. When the fluid moves, it drags the cupula and twist the processes of the hair cells. The twisting causes electrical signals, which is carried to the hindbrain by the vestibular nerve,

Question 30

Describe how the static vestibular system works.

Answer 30

The saccule and utricle both contain macula, a strip of hair that is also covered in jelly. However, the jelly contains calcium carbonate crystals called otoliths. The jelly is called the otoliths membrane. When the head is at rest, the otoliths are pulled down by gravity and this in turn causes the hair to be stimulated. The saccule and utricle are at right angles to each other. The macula of the saccule is set in the transverse plane and detects the flexion and extension movements of the head. The macula of the utricle is set in the saggital plane, so it detects the lateral tilting of the head.these vestibular nerves are true bipolar cells.

Question 31

What is nystagmus?

Answer 31

Nystagmus is when the eyes move side from side.

Question 32

What is the difference between vertigo and dizziness?

Answer 32

Vertigo is when the world seems to move around you and is often accompanied by feeling of nausea and may committing vomit, whilst dizziness is a feeling of unsteadiness