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Week 8 Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the Retina?

A

back of eye light sensing tissues: houses the photoreceptors that transduce light into neural activity
Visual pathways from the retinal to the primary visual cortex go off to different structures to process the different features of visual information
fine-tuning of vision contains the rods and cones

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2
Q

What is a Wavelength?

A

Light can be precisely controlled - photoreceptors: see between wavelengths of 400 to 700 nanometers of light
we don’t have the machinery to detect other sensitivities of wavelengths outside the range

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3
Q

What is Frequency?

A

Indigo has a higher frequency than red - number of waves per second
In the dark: Less APs are sent, and the frequency changes telling the brain the amount of light is less

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4
Q

What is Amplitude?

A

the maximum displacement of a wave or vibrating body, the magnitude of an action potential, and the extent of a back-and-forth movement

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5
Q

What is the Electromagnetic spectrum?

A

A type of wavelength light’s an electromagnetic energy & its emitted in the form of wave
We only see a sliver of electromagnetic radiation outside in the world
we don’t have the machinery to detect other sensitivities of wavelengths outside the range

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6
Q

What is Optics?

A

the scientific study of sight and the behavior of light, or the properties of transmission and deflection of other forms of radiation.

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7
Q

What is the tapetum lucidum?

A

for seeing in low light, reflects light into the eye to recapture light and create vision

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8
Q

Reflection:

A

light can get absorbed by Retinal pigment epithelium, preventing light from getting reflected
When you make a normal amount of light some reflects off: in humans, it looks red, in nocturnal creatures it’s green/orange/yellow

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9
Q

What is Absorption?

A

the process where light energy is taken up by a material and converted into other forms of energy, such as heat, rather than being reflected or transmitted

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10
Q

what is Refraction?

A

bends light to focus it onto the retina at the back of the eyeball

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11
Q

What is the Pupil?

A

adjustable opening in the iris that regulates the amount of light that enters the eye

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12
Q

what is the Cornea:

A

the transparent outer covering of the eye that bends light
most of the refraction is done here - allowing light to enter the eye

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13
Q

What is the Iris?

A

pigmented ring of muscles situated behind the cornea
controls the diameter of the pupil and has melanin to give the eye color - amount gives specific color(more = darker)

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14
Q

What is crystalline?

A

the transparent protein part of the structure of the corns and lens and helps with refraction - it makes this part transparent vs white

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15
Q

What is the Sclera?

A

the white tissue of the eye - tough wall, gives you the form/structure of the eyeball so its constant and other parts can function correctly

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16
Q

What are the Extraocular muscles?

A

a group of seven skeletal muscles that control the movements of the eye

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17
Q

What is the Optic nerve?

A

has the axon so that visual information can be sent to the rest of the brain
Axons from retail ganglion cells exit the eye via the optic nerve
The optic nerves of both eyes meet on the midline of the brain at the optic chiasm

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18
Q

What happens when there is damage to the optic nerve?

A

Damage can cause loss of vision in the opposite side because nerves can’t cross over

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19
Q

What is the Optic disk?

A

Blind spot - location on the retina containing blood vessels and axons of ganglion cells(form optic nerve) that exits the eye

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20
Q

What is macular degeneration?

A

dying off cells in the macular region, it impacts color and detail vision

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21
Q

What is the Macula?

A

The area at center of the retina - see fine details directly in front of you - the exact center is the fovea

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22
Q

What is the Fovea?

A

sharpness of vision - retina gets the ganglion cells and bipolar cells out of the way so that light directly hits cones instead of being filtered through ganglion bipolar cells
increases crisp, detailed vision - 1 to 2mm wide
Process straight-ahead vision - cones are mostly found in this part of the eye
As you move away you get more rods than cones, towards the outer eye, they’re few

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23
Q

What is the Aqueous humor?

A

nourishes the cornea and lens(avascular), glaucoma
provides nutrients to the lens and cornea and removes waste

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24
Q

Why is the Aqueous humor avascular?

A

to be transparent they can’t have blood vessels so they need to get nutrients somehow - constant production and removal

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25
What is the lens?
series of transparent layers additional refraction has crystallin so the eye can pass through
26
What happens if there are issues in the lens?
cataracts: develops here - build-up of deposits in the lens, results in fuzzy vision, caused by UV or diabetes
27
What is the ciliary muscle?
changes the shape of the lens for accommodation connected by ligaments(flexible proteins) attach lens to actual muscle More rounded shape for things up close and muscles flex, more flat shape for further things, muscles relax and pull thin, brain signals to muscles, neural control
27
How does the lens do Accommodation?
changes in the thickness of the lens to focus on images on the retina - fine-tuning of vision
28
What is the Ciliary body?
made of the ciliary muscles and gland that secretes
29
What is Retinitis pigmentosa?
you can see color and detail vision but you have trouble with seeing when it's dark out
30
Where does the majority of light refraction in the eye occur? Why?
Cornea: the transparent, curved front surface, because it's the first and most significant refractive surface encountered by light entering the eye, lens playing a role in focusing
30
What is the Vitreous humor?
fills the eye between the lens and the retina, more gel-like to give the eyeball a constant shape
31
What is accommodation and how does it relate to refractive power?
eye's ability to change its refractive power, adjusting the shape of the lens, to focus on objects at distances, refractive power is bending light to form an image on the retina
32
What does Emmetropic mean?
clinical term used by eye doctors to describe a person with perfect vision
33
What is Hyperopia?
(farsightedness): a refractive error where distant objects appear clear but near objects appear blurred
34
What is Myopia?
(nearsightedness): a refractive error where distant objects appear blurry while close objects remain clear
35
What is an Astigmatism?
blurry/distorted vision because cornea/lens isn't round, leading to light bending unevenly
36
What is Presbyopia?
age-related condition that affects the ability to focus on close objects
37
what is Pupillary light reflex?
an automatic response that controls the size of your pupils in response to light
38
what is the Visual field?
the area of space that a person can see when their eyes are focused on a central point
39
What are Photoreceptors and what is theur function?
does the reception of light into electrical activity light absorbed by Retinal pigment epithelium, preventing light from getting reflected Photoreceptors are making photo figments throughout the day
39
What is Visual acuity?
a measure of the sharpness and clarity of vision
40
What are Bipolar cells?
no AP - excitatory postsynaptic signal to release neurotransmitter, excite next cell in line
41
What happens when ganglion cells are in the dark?
Less APs sent, frequency changes telling the brain the amount of light is less
41
What are Ganglion cells?
can generate AP using axons that exit eye and send the visual information to the brain
42
What happens when ganglion cells are in the light?
cell gets excited and more APs are sent to the brain
43
What are Horizontal cells?
laterally interconnecting neurons in the Inner Nuclear (Bipolar) layer Amacrine cells
44
What is Laminar organization?
the arrangement of tissues or structures in distinct, layered formations
45
What is a Rod?
sensitive to light in low conditions - use at night when dark, can only see black and white rod-shaped, B&W vision, dim light, not fovea, lots periphery not detailed, convergence
45
What is the Pigmented epithelium?
layer of cells found containing melanin, a dark pigment that gives them their color.
46
What is a Cone?
sensitive to 3 different wavelengths of light(red, green, blue), encodes color vision cone-shaped, color, bright light, in fovea, few in periphery, detailed, little convergence
47
What is Scotopic vision?
see in low light, rod photoreceptors, more sensitive to light, don’t perceive color
48
What is Photopic Vision?
the vision of the eye under well-lit conditions
49
What are Mesopic conditions?
low to moderate light conditions where both rods and cones in the eye are active
50
What is the difference between the Fovea vs peripheral retina:
fovea: central retina, provides sharp vision, peripheral retina: provides side vision
51
What is Phototransduction?
process of converting light into electrical signals that the brain uses to create an image
52
What are the 3 types of photopigments in cones?
short (blue), medium (green), and long (red) wavelengths of light
53
What is the Young-Helmholtz trichromacy theory?
Explains how the eye sees color in blue, green, and red
54
What is Light and color adaptation?
adjust to changes in illumination, preserving object colors despite varying light conditions
55
What is Retinal output?
action potentials in retinal ganglion cells whose axons form the optic nerve
56
What is the Receptive field?
the number of photoreceptors a ganglion cell receives input from A large receptive field creates convergence and imprecise vision

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