Lecture 15 Outline Flashcards
The eye is the…
sensory organ for vision
List & describe the mechanisms that help protect eyes from injury
- EYEBALL
- is sheltered by bony socket in which it is positioned - EYELIDS
- act like shutters to protect eye from environmental hazards (keep objects out of your eyes) - EYELASHES
- trap fine, airborne debris such as dust before it can fall into eye - Tears
- continuously produced by lacrimal glands & conjunctiva
- lubricate, cleanse, bactericidal (chemicals within tears that help prevent the growth of bacteria & fungus within your eye)
What is conjunctiva?
is a mucus membrane
- runs the surface of your eye as well under your eyelids
- secretes very thin mucus & tears
What is conjuctivitis?
either a viral or bacterial infection AKA pink eye
Spherical, fluid-filled structure enclosed by…
3 tissue layers
What are the 3 tissue layers?
- Sclera/cornea
- Choroid/ciliary body/iris
- Retina
Describe Sclera/cornea
a. Sclera - tough outer layer of CONNECTIVE TISSUE; forms visible white part of the eye
b. Cornea - anterior TRANSPARENT outer layer, allows passage of light rays
Describe Choroid/ciliary body/iris
a. Choroid - MIDDLE layer underneath sclera which contains blood vessels that nourish retina
b. contains dark pigment (melanin) under retina
- purpose: to absorb straight photons of life
c. choroid layer forms ciliary body, suspensory ligaments & iris
Choroid
continuous with 2 other structures: ciliary body & suspensory ligaments
Ciliary body
- has # of diff types of muscles
- what you see from the outside
- what see see of it at from the outside really is the iris of your eye
“The ciliary body is a circular structure that is an extension of the iris, the colored part of the eye. The ciliary body produces the fluid in the eye called aqueous humor. It also contains the ciliary muscle, which changes the shape of the lens when your eyes focus on a near object.”
Suspensory ligament
very, fine thread like structures that connect the ciliary body to the lense
Describe Retina
INNERMOST layer under choroid
Consists of:
- outer pigment cells
- rods & cones (photo receptors)
- axons of visual nerve fibres (exiting the eye)
RD
Compare & contrast the Posterior & Anterior Cavity
- Posterior cavity
a. b/t LENS & RETINA
b. (fluid that fills this the most, the main part of the eye is:) VITREOUS HUMOR, (gelatinous - b/c it helps the eye maintain its rounded structure)
- basically most of the volume of the eye - Anterior cavity
a. b/t CORNEA & LENS
b. (filled by) AQUEOUS (water, basically salt solution) HUMOR (similar to normal extracellular fluid)
Iris
controls amount of light entering eye
contains 2 sets of smooth muscle:
- Circular (=constrictor)
- Radial (=dilator)
Pupil
opening through which light enters the eye (before it strikes the lense)
- can constrict & dilate depending on the actions of the 2 muscles
Lens
focuses light
- can change shape & allow you to focus on objects that are near or objects that are distant depending how that lens changes shape
What is Tapetum Lucidum
many vertebrates have less melanin, but an additional reflective layer within the choroid, called a tapetum lucidum (humans DON’T have this)
- when light hits it, if a photon of light hit it, that means that it hasn’t hit one of the photoreceptor cells, but if it hits this reflective layer it can be:
reflects light back towards retina
- & gets a 2nd shot at activating 1 of the rods or cons
improves sensitivity of vision under low light, but may cause some blurriness
- b/c its reflective off of this layer & then it can strike a near by photoreceptor
Dilating/constricting the pupil
- Changing the pupil size controls the amount of light entering the eye
- Optimization for light & dark conditions
* if its very bright (in conditions with a lot of light) the pupil can constrict to reduce the amount coming in so it doesn’t saturate the photo receptors)
* when you’re in a very dark condition the pupil can dilate to open & it will allow more light to enter your eye & hopefully that will allow you to gather up enough light to activate photoreceptors & have vision (be able to see what’s in your environment)
- Gives the eye a wide “dynamic range” (range of useful light conditions) - Changing pupil size also controls “depth of field”
As with photography,
- a small aperture gives large depth of field
- a large aperture reduces depth of field
- SMARTPHONE DOES THIS DIGITALLY WITH “PORTRAIT MODE”
Close objects viewed with constricted pupils (gives more depth of field, so close can move a little bit & still be in focus), so if object moves short distance, still in focus
- if your pupils were dilated & an object that was very close to you moved just a little bit - it will no longer be in focus - you would have to refocus it through another physiological process
Larger aperture (open pupil) *fully dilated
- sharper focus
- trade off - nothing else in focus
Small aperture (constricted pupil) *opened a very small amount
- items in background are also in focus
- more “depth of field” where more items are in focus (small aperture, even though its less sharp)
Pupil size is controlled by the…
Autonomic NS
Circular muscle of iris
When these muscles contract - the pupil will constrict (make the hole SMALLER)
- therefore, CONSTRICTOR MUSCLES
The muscles are arranged in a CIRCLE all through this iris
Radial muscle of iris
When these muscles contract they pull the pupil open (dilate)
- therefore, dilators
- point radially
Describe Parasympathetic stimulation CN III (ACh)
using neurotransmitter Acetylcholine will cause contraction of those circular muscles & they’ll get shorter & as they get shorter, the pupil will constrict
Pupillary constriction
- as these muscles contract, that will make the pupil smaller
Sympathetic stimulation Superior Cervical ganglion (Nor-epi)
uses neurotransmitter norepinephrine
- it will cause contraction of these radial muscles & as they contract & those muscle fibres get shorter - they will pull the pupil open
Pupillary dilation
Parasympathetic stimulation (pupillary constriction) & Sympathetic stimulation (pupillary dilation) are an example of…
antagonistic control (opposing each other) by ANS
- we have these 2 branches the para & sympa branch of the ANS & the action of 1 branch serves to directly oppose the action of the other
- regulation of homeostasis (normal body functions) requires those 2 sides (branches of ANS) but still are acting in direct opposition to each other
Focusing requires a…
lens
Focusing requires a lens. For clear vision, the focal point must fall on the retina. Describe
Parallel light rays pass through a flattened lens, & the focal point falls on the retina
- will converge on a single point & focus on 1 specific spot
- if you are looking at object that is very far way with those parallel light rays it can focus directly on the retina
For close objects, the light rays are no longer parallel. The lens & its focal length have not changed, but the object is seen out of focus b/c the light beam is not focused on the retina
- if the object moves - the object is no longer in focus so its image distance no longer lies directly on the retina & in this case the image will be blurry
- you need to correct this - move this image distance, shorter so that you can move this back towards the retina
- focal length of lens becomes LONGER b/c those light rays are no longer parallel but diverging this way
To keep an object in focus as it moves closer, the lens becomes STRONGER & ROUNDED
- bend light rays more & that will shorten that focal light & bring that point of focus back onto the retina
- our eyes need to control the shape of the lens to account for whether or not something that you’re looking at is distant or close
- in order to do it - we will make the lens in some situations stronger & more rounded
What is the focal length of lens
the point at which that object is gonna focus HAS MOVED FARTHER AWAY
- becomes longer b/c those light rays are no longer parallel but diverging this way
Describe Accommodation (focusing the eye)
process of focusing
- change in strength of lens
- FAST: takes only 350 ms to change focus from far to near
- accomplished by action of autonomic nervous system on CILIARY MUSCLE (actions by PARAsympathetic; ACh)
- the natural shape of the lens is strong & rounded
- the ciliary muscle pulls the lens to a flatter, weaker shape
The lens is attached to the ciliary muscle by…
suspensory ligaments (zonules)
The lens is attached to the ciliary muscle by…
suspensory ligaments (zonules)
Compare & contrast ciliary muscle, lens & ligaments
ciliary muscle: ring shaped muscle, made of smooth muscle & it sits all around the lens
- connected to the lens by these ligaments
lens: is connected to the ciliary muscle by these ligaments
ligaments: attach ciliary muscle to lens suspensory ligaments (zonules)