The Visual System 1 & 2 Flashcards
importance of vision
detect prey, predators, mates
communicate
more than 1/3 neocortex involved in analysing visual world
light and eye
EM radiation that is visible
light has:
a wavelength - distance between peaks and troughs
a frequency - number of waves per second
an amplitude - difference between wave peak and trough
light and environment
optics
EM light travels in straight lines - rays - until it interacts with atoms and molecules
interact in 3 ways: reflection, absorption and refraction
pupil
lets light inside
black as all light absorbed
iris
contains muscles which control amount of light entering eye
cornea
glassy
transparent covering of pupil and iris that reflects light
sclera
continuous with cornea
forms tough proctective wall of eyeball to give shape
extraocular muscles
move eyeball
controlled by oculomotor nerve (CN III)
optic nerve
CNII - sensory
carries axons from retina to brain
opthalmoscope
to see blood vessels
optic disk - blind spot, origin of blood vessels and optic nerve, cannot sense light
macula - region of retina for central vision, devoid of large blood vessels to improve visual quality
fovea - retina is thinnest here and is area of highest visual acuity
cross section of eye
retina - contains sensory receptor cells and afferent receptors
lens - suspended by zonal fibres - ligaments - which are attached to ciliary muscle, enabling stretching of lens
2 solutions in eye:
aqueous humor - provides cornea with nutrients
vitreous humor - provides structure and pressure outwards
image formation
light rays must be focussed on retina - ideally fovea
refraction occurs at: cornea - 80%, lens - 20%
degree of refraction determined by
difference in refractive indices between the 2 media
angle at which light hits the interface between 2 media
refraction by the cornea
light arrives through air but cornea is mainly water
light travels mroe slowly through water than air due to hgiher density = refraction occurs
distance from refractive surface to convergence of parallel light rays = focal distance
accommodation by the lens
distant object
- almost parallel light rays
- cornea provides sufficient refraction to focus them on retina
closer objects
- light rays arent parallel
- requires additional refrection to focus them on retina
- provided by the fattening of the lens
rounding of lens:
increases refractive power to focus closer objects on fovea
problems with focussing
eye is emmetropic when lens is flat and we are focussing a distant object
farsightedness
eye is too short
near objects are focussed behind retina
not enough refraction