Eye Flashcards
what are the 3 layers of the eye ?
sclera, choroid and retina
sclera
Outermost layer
Tough and protective
Cornea is the anterior portion of this layer
choroid
Highly vascular layer - supplies to rods and cones w/ blood
The ciliary body, with its lens, and the iris are a continuous layer with the choroid (aka the uvea)
retina
Visual layer
Exits the orbit as the optic nerve
limbus
The point at which the sclera becomes the cornea
what is the cornea? what does it do?
anterior portion of the sclera and makes the eyeball “not round”. The steep curvature of the cornea makes it ideal for refraction (bending and focusing) the light that enters the eye. (the lens helps too but only fine adjustments to focus).
what part of the eye is known for vascular function which supplies the eye with nourishment.?
choroid
what are the three chambers of the eye? where are they and what do they contain?
Anterior Chamber: In front of the iris. Contains aqueous humor
Posterior Chamber: Between the iris and lens. Contains aqueous humor
Vitreous Chamber: Behind the lens. Contains vitreous humor (thicker gelatinous substance that gives the eyeball its shape).
what does the ciliary body produce? what process does it do?
Produces aqueous humor
Process of accommodation which changes the shape of the lens to fine tune vision- accommodation for near vision
what is aqueous humor?
Watery substance that bathes the anterior and posterior chambers. It exits at the Canal of Schlemm which is at the angle between the cornea and iris. The Canal of Schlemm communicates with the venous system.
how does contraction of the ciliary body work?
surrounds the lens supporting it by the zonular fibers that attach to the lens capsule. When the muscle of the ciliary body contract they release the tension on the zonular fibers and allow the lens to become more convex thereby focusing the image on the retina.
what nerve controls contraction of the ciliary body muscles?
controlled mainly by the parasympathetic fibers of the Oculomotor cranial nerve (CN III).
what does a curved lens mean for refraction and focal point? flat lens?
more curve in lens= more refraction= closer focal point
flatter lens= less refraction =further focal point
muscles of the iris
The iris contains circular muscle fibers (sphincter) that constrict the pupil and radial muscle fibers (straight) that dilate the pupil iris constricts (scrunches up) into the angle - this will be painful if you have closed-angle glaucoma b/c theres no angle for it tot scrunch into
____ accounts for 2/3 of focusing ability of the eye, ____ for 1/3
cornea: 2/3 lens: 1/3
what is the lens responsible for in terms of viewing images?
small adjustments when viewing items up close (accomodation is for near vision) - pupil shrinks and eye converge together
blurred image activates what?
Blurred image activates parasympathetic preganglionic neurons in Edinger-Westphal nuclei sending signal to the sphincter muscle (of the Iris) .
what are the two layers of the retina?
pigment epithelium and neural retina
pigment epithelium
Dark layer lies on top of choroid
Bruch Membrane- Absorbs light so there is no reflection of light around the eye
Pigment epithelium- Stores large quantities of Vit A a precursor of the photosensitive visual pigments
what three type of cells does the neural retina contain?
photoreceptors, bipolar cells, and ganglion cells