Lecture 15- Sensory processing: the visual system Flashcards
what mechanisms help protect eyes from injury? 4
eyeball is sheltered by bony socket
eyelids protect eye from environment
eyelashes trap fine airborne debris
tears lubricate, cleanse and have bactericidal chemicals
what are the 3 tissue layers that the spherical fluid filled structure is enclosed by?
sclera/cornea
choroid/ ciliary body/ iris
retina
what is the sclera? what does it look like?
tough outer layer of connective tissue (visible white part of the eye)
what is the cornea? function
anterior (transparent outer layer) allows passage of light rays
what is the choroid? where is it? what does it contain? what does it form 3?
middle layer underneath sclera
contains blood vessels that nourish retina
contains dark pigment (melanin)
forms ciliary body, suspensory ligaments and iris
what is the retina? what does it consist of?
innermost layer under choroid
consists of outer pigment cells, photoreceptors (rods and cones) and axons of visual nerve fibres
the interior consists of two fluid filled cavities separated by the lens, what are they?
posterior cavity
anterior cavity
where is the posterior cavity? what is it?
area between lens and retina
vitreous humor (gelatin consistency)
where is the anterior cavity? what is it?
area between cornea and lens
aqueous humor (watery, NOT gelatin like)
what is the function of the iris? whta does it contain?
controls the amount of light entering the eye
contains two sets of smooth muscle (circular and radial)
what is the function of the pupil?
opening through which light enters the eye
function of lens
focuses light
what is tapetum lucidum?
many vertebrates (ex. dogs) have less melanin but have an addition reflective layer (tapetum lucidum)
there isn’t as much melanin therefore as light enters the pupil there is not enough melanin to absorb therefore the light bounces around in eye and can cause blurriness because the light might not hit the photoreceptors
why do we change our pupil size?
to control the amount of light entering the eye
controls the depth of field
what is small arperture?
constricted pupil
can see things in focus that are close and far at the same time
what is large aperture?
open pupil
like portrait mode. can focus on object thats up close but not on the object thats far away at the same time
what is the circular muscle of iris? what does it do? what nervous system stimulation does it use?
encircles the pupil of the iris
constrict the pupil (in bright light)
parasympathetic stimulation
what is the radial muscle of iris? what does it do? what nervous system stimulation does it use?
dilates the pupil
sympathetic stimulation