Somatosensory L4: Vision Flashcards
Why is the eye so important?
Able to see things
_____ is the first and fastest system that senses input
Vision
What does the human eye look like in the internal sagittal view?
What are 3 main structures of the eye?
- Sclera
- Choroid
- Retina
What is the sclera?
Tough outer layer of connective tissue
Keeps it in shape Protector
What does sclera form?
Form visible white part of the eye
What is the cornea?
Anterior, transparent portion of the sclera
What is the purpose of the cornea?
Light rays pass through it before entering interior of eye.
What is the choroid?
middle layer underneath sclera, contains blood vessels that nourish the retina
What are the 2 layers of the choroid layer?
- Ciliary body – controls lens shape
- Iris – controls amount of light entering eye;
What is the ciliary body?
controls lens shape
Near and distant object
What is the iris?
controls amount of light entering eye
By changing shape Iris closes = bright room Iris opens = dim room
Why is it important that the shape/size of the iris changes depending on light?
Eg. what happens when iris is large and is in a bright room = too much light = damage retina
What is the pupil?
Opening through which light enters the eye
What is the purpose of the pupil?
Size adjusted by iris muscles.
What is the retina?
Innermost layer under choroid
What are the 5 cells of the nervous tissue layer of the retina?
- Rods and cones
- Horizontal cells
- Bipolar cells
- Amacrine cells
- Ganglion cells
What is the function of rods and cones?
light detection
What is the function of Horizontal cells; Bipolar cells; Amacrine cells; Ganglion cells?
Signal processing
What are 3 characteristics of pigmented layer?
- Stray light absorption
- Waste product removal
- Nutrients/oxygen delivery from the choroid.
Where are cones and rods situated?
back of the eye
Travel through all there other cells first before reaching
Why are cones and rods at the end?
Need to activate rods and cones without damaging them
Why is it important to have a part of the eye that is important for light absorption?
Light comes in and activates rods and cones and then dissipates into energy
What is the electromagnetic spectrum?
We can detect light from 400-700nm= visible light spectrum
Different wavelength means _____ energy
different
The longer wavelength means ____(more/less) energy.
less
The shorter wavelength means ____(more/less) energy.
more
What are 4 factors influencing lights?
- Absorption: transformation of light energy into heat energy in a medium
- Reflection: when light encounters a medium with different optical density, part or all of its is reflected
- Eg. pigmented layer prevents reflection from occurring
- Refraction: change in propagation direction when passing through media with different optical properties. e.g. air and water
- Ambient noise: light signals can only be detected if they are larger than the background noise. Camouflage: it is hard to see a white rabbit in a snowfield.
- Eg. unless the rabbit moves around or opens its eyes
What is absorption, which is a factor influencing light?
transformation of light energy into heat energy in a medium
What is reflection, which is a factor influencing light?
when light encounters a medium with different optical density, part or all of its is reflected
- Eg. pigmented layer prevents reflection from occurring
What is refraction, which is a factor influencing light?
change in propagation direction when passing through media with different optical properties.
- e.g. air and water
What is ambient noise, which is a factor influencing light?
light signals can only be detected if they are larger than the background noise. Camouflage: it is hard to see a white rabbit in a snowfield
What is refraction?
- Convex surfaces converge light rays.
- Concave surfaces diverge light rays.
Convex surfaces _____ (converge/diverge) light rays.
converge
This is our eyes working
- Lens shaped in convex shape = focus on a focal point
Why is the focal point important?
- Will be sitting on the retina
- Without focal point = blurry
Concave surfaces _____ (converge/diverge) light rays. What does this mean in terms of vision?
diverge
Very difficult to see = no focal point
What are 3 characteristics of refraction in the eye?
- The cornea and lens are the primary refractive structures that bend incoming light rays
- In land animals, the cornea contributes most to the total refractive ability of the eye
- The strength of the lens can be adjusted to accommodate for differences in near and far vision (ACCOMODATION).
What is accommodation?
The strength of the lens can be adjusted to accommodate for differences in near and far vision
Ability to adjust strength of lens by changing its shape
Why is accomodation important in vision?
- Eg. near object = Light rays coming in = light rays are close together = change shape of lens = change focal point
- Eg. distant object = light rays coming in = light rays far away = change shape of lens = change focal point