Eye

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Health and medicine

An eye is an organ of vision that detects light. Different kinds of light-sensitive organs are found in a variety of organisms. The simplest eyes do nothing but detect whether the surroundings are light or dark, while more complex eyes can distinguish shapes and colors. Many animals, including some mammals, birds, reptiles and fish, have two eyes which may be placed on the same plane to be interpreted as a single three-dimensional "image" ( binocular vision), as in humans; or on different planes producing two separate "images" ( monocular vision), such as in rabbits and chameleons.

Varieties of eyes

In most vertebrates and some mollusks, the eye works by allowing light to enter it and project onto a light-sensitive panel of cells known as the retina at the rear of the eye, where the light is detected and converted into electrical signals. These are then transmitted to the brain via the optic nerve. Such eyes are typically roughly spherical, filled with a transparent gel-like substance called the vitreous humour, with a focusing lens and often an iris which regulates the intensity of the light that enters the eye. The eyes of cephalopods, fish, amphibians, and snakes usually have fixed lens shapes, and focusing vision is achieved by telescoping the lens — similar to how a camera focuses.

Compound eyes are found among the arthropods and are composed of many simple facets which give a pixelated image (not multiple images, as is often believed). Each sensor has its own lens and photosensitive cell(s). Some eyes have up to 28,000 such sensors, which are arranged hexagonally, and which can give a full 360 degree field of vision. Compound eyes are very sensitive to motion. Some arthropods, including many Strepsiptera, have compound eye composed of a few facets each, with a retina capable of creating an image, which does provide multiple-image vision. With each eye viewing a different angle, a fused image from all the eyes is produced in the brain, providing a very wide-angle, high-resolution image.

Possessing detailed hyperspectral colour vision, the Mantis shrimp has been reported to have the world's most complex colour vision system. Trilobites, which are now extinct, had unique compound eyes. They used clear calcite crystals to form the lenses of their eyes. In this, they differ from most other arthropods, which have soft eyes. The number of lenses in such an eye varied, however: some trilobites had only one, and some had thousands of lenses in one eye.

Some of the simplest eyes, called ocelli, can be found in animals like snails, who cannot actually "see" in the normal sense. They do have photosensitive cells, but no lens and no other means of projecting an image onto these cells. They can distinguish between light and dark, but no more. This enables snails to keep out of direct sunlight. Jumping spiders have simple eyes that are so large, supported by an array of other, smaller eyes, that they can get enough visual input to hunt and pounce on their prey. Some insect larvae, like caterpillars, have a different type of single eye ( stemmata) which gives a rough image.

Evolution of eyes

The common origin ( monophyly) of all animal eyes is now widely accepted as fact based on shared anatomical and genetic features of all eyes; that is, all modern eyes, varied as they are, have their origins in a proto-eye evolved some 540 million years ago. The majority of the advancements in early eyes are believed to have taken only a few million years to develop, as the first predator to gain true imaging would have touched off an "arms race". Prey animals and competing predators alike would be forced to rapidly match or exceed any such capabilities to survive. Hence multiple eye types and subtypes developed in parallel.

Eyes in various animals show adaptation to their requirements. For example, birds of prey have much greater visual acuity than humans, and some can see ultraviolet light. The different forms of eyes in, for example, vertebrates and mollusks are often cited as examples of parallel evolution, despite their distant common ancestry.

The earliest eyes, called "eyespots", were simple patches of photoreceptor cells, physically similar to the receptor patches for taste and smell. These eyespots could only sense ambient brightness: they could distinguish light and dark, but not the direction of the lightsource. This gradually changed as the eyespot depressed into a shallow "cup" shape, granting the ability to slightly discriminate directional brightness by using the angle at which the light hit certain cells to identify the source. The pit deepened over time, the opening diminished in size, and the number of photoreceptor cells increased, forming an effective pinhole camera that was capable of slightly distinguishing dim shapes.

The thin overgrowth of transparent cells over the eye's aperture, originally formed to prevent damage to the eyespot, allowed the segregated contents of the eye chamber to specialize into a transparent humour that optimized colour filtering, blocked harmful radiation, improved the eye's refractive index, and allowed functionality outside of water. The transparent protective cells eventually split into two layers, with circulatory fluid in between that allowed wider viewing angles and greater imaging resolution, and the thickness of the transparent layer gradually increased, in most species with the transparent crystallin protein.

The gap between tissue layers naturally formed a bioconvex shape, an ideal structure for a normal refractive index. Independently, a transparent layer and a nontransparent layer split forward from the lens: the cornea and iris. Separation of the forward layer again forms a humour, the aqueous humour. This increases refractive power and again eases circulatory problems. Formation of a nontransparent ring allows more blood vessels, more circulation, and larger eye sizes.

Anatomy of the mammalian eye

Three layers

The structure of the mammalian eye can be divided into three main layers or tunics whose names reflect their basic functions: the fibrous tunic, the vascular tunic, and the nervous tunic.

• The fibrous tunic, also known as the tunica fibrosa oculi, is the outer layer of the eyeball consisting of the cornea and sclera. The sclera gives the eye most of its white colour. It consists of dense connective tissue filled with the protein collagen to both protect the inner components of the eye and maintain its shape.
• The vascular tunic, also known as the tunica vasculosa oculi, is the middle vascularized layer which includes the iris, ciliary body, and choroid. The choroid contains blood vessels that supply the retinal cells with necessary oxygen and remove the waste products of respiration. The choroid gives the inner eye a dark colour, which prevents disruptive reflections within the eye.
• The nervous tunic, also known as the tunica nervosa oculi, is the inner sensory which includes the retina. The retina contains the photosensitive rod and cone cells and associated neurons. To maximise vision and light absorption, the retina is a relatively smooth (but curved) layer. It does have two points at which it is different; the fovea and optic disc. The fovea is a dip in the retina directly opposite the lens, which is densely packed with cone cells. It is largely responsible for colour vision in humans, and enables high acuity, such as is necessary in reading. The optic disc, sometimes referred to as the anatomical blind spot, is a point on the retina where the optic nerve pierces the retina to connect to the nerve cells on its inside. No photosensitive cells whatsoever exist at this point, it is thus "blind".

Anterior and posterior segments

The mammalian eye can also be divided into two main segments: the anterior segment and the posterior segment.

Anterior segment

The anterior segment is the front third of the eye that includes the structures in front of the vitreous humour: the cornea, iris, ciliary body, and lens. Within the anterior segment are two fluid-filled spaces: the anterior chamber and the posterior chamber. The anterior chamber is the space between the posterior surface of the cornea (i.e. the corneal endothelium) and the iris, whereas the posterior chamber is between the iris and the front face of the vitreous.

The cornea and lens help to converge light rays to focus onto the retina. The lens, behind the iris, is a convex, springy disk which focuses light, through the second humour, onto the retina. It is attached to the ciliary body via a ring of suspensory ligaments known as the Zonule of Zinn. To clearly see an object far away, the circularly arranged ciliary muscle will pull on the lens, flattening it. When the ciliary muscle contracts, the lens will spring back into a thicker, more convex, form. Humans gradually lose this flexibility with age, resulting in the inability to focus on nearby objects, which is known as presbyopia. There are other refraction errors arising from the shape of the cornea and lens, and from the length of the eyeball. These include myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. The iris, between the lens and the first humour, is a pigmented ring of fibrovascular tissue and muscle fibres. Light must first pass though the centre of the iris, the pupil. The size of the pupil is actively adjusted by the circular and radial muscles to maintain a relatively constant level of light entering the eye. Too much light being let in could damage the retina; too little light makes sight difficult.

All of the individual components through which light travels within the eye before reaching the retina are transparent, minimising dimming of the light. Light enters the eye from an external medium such as air or water, passes through the cornea, and into the first of two humours, the aqueous humour. Most of the light refraction occurs at the cornea which has a fixed curvature. The first humour is a clear mass which connects the cornea with the lens of the eye, helps maintain the convex shape of the cornea (necessary to the convergence of light at the lens) and provides the corneal endothelium with nutrients.

Posterior segment

The posterior segment is the back two-thirds of the eye that includes the anterior hyaloid membrane and all structures behind it: the vitreous humor, retina, choroid, and optic nerve. On the other side of the lens is the second humour, the vitreous humour, which is bounded on all sides: by the lens, ciliary body, suspensory ligaments and by the retina. It lets light through without refraction, helps maintain the shape of the eye and suspends the delicate lens. In some animals, the retina contains a reflective layer (the tapetum lucidum) which increases the amount of light each photosensitive cell perceives, allowing the animal to see better under low light conditions.

Extraocular anatomy

In many species, the eyes are inset in the portion of the skull known as the orbits or eyesockets. This placement of the eyes helps to protect them from injury.

In humans, the eyebrows redirect flowing substances (such as rainwater or sweat) away from the eye. Water in the eye can alter the refractive properties of the eye and blur vision. It can also wash away the tear fluid — along with it the protective lipid layer — and can alter corneal physiology, due to osmotic differences between tear fluid and freshwater. This is made apparent when swimming in freshwater pools, as the osmotic gradient draws "pool water" into the corneal tissue (the pool water is hypotonic), causing edema, and subsequently leaving the swimmer with "cloudy" or "misty" vision for a short period thereafter. It can be reversed by irrigating the eye with hypertonic saline which osmotically draws the excess water out of the eye.

In many animals, including humans, eyelids wipe the eye and prevent dehydration. They spread tears on the eyes, which contains substances which help fight bacterial infection as part of the immune system. Some aquatic animals have a second eyelid in each eye which refracts the light and helps them see clearly both above and below water. Most creatures will automatically react to a threat to its eyes (such as an object moving straight at the eye, or a bright light) by covering the eyes, and/or by turning the eyes away from the threat. Blinking the eyes is, of course, also a reflex.

In many animals, including humans, eyelashes prevent fine particles from entering the eye. Fine particles can be bacteria, but also simple dust which can cause irritation of the eye, and lead to tears and subsequent blurred vision.

Other articles regarding eye anatomy

Annulus of Zinn, Conjunctiva, Macula, Nictitating membrane, Schlemm's canal, Trabecular meshwork.

Cytology

The structure of the mammalian eye owes itself completely to the task of focusing light onto the retina. This light causes chemical changes in the photosensitive cells of the retina, the products of which trigger nerve impulses which travel to the brain.

The retina contains two forms of photosensitive cells important to vision — rods and cones. Though structurally and metabolically similar, their function is quite different. Rod cells are highly sensitive to light allowing them to respond in dim light and dark conditions. These are the cells which allow humans and other animals to see by moonlight, or with very little available light (as in a dark room). This is why the darker conditions become, the less colour objects seem to have. Cone cells, conversely, need high light intensities to respond and have high visual acuity. Different cone cells respond to different wavelengths of light, which allows an organism to see colour.

The differences are useful; apart from enabling sight in both dim and light conditions, humans have given them further application. The fovea, directly behind the lens, consists of mostly densely-packed cone cells. This gives humans a highly detailed central vision, allowing reading, bird watching, or any other task which primarily requires looking at things. Its requirement for high intensity light does cause problems for astronomers, as they cannot see dim stars, or other objects, using central vision because the light from these is not enough to stimulate cone cells. Because cone cells are all that exist directly in the fovea, astronomers have to look at stars through the "corner of their eyes" (averted vision) where rods also exist, and where the light is sufficient to stimulate cells, allowing the individual to observe distant stars.

Rods and cones are both photosensitive, but respond differently to different frequencies of light. They both contain different pigmented photoreceptor proteins. Rod cells contain the protein rhodopsin and cone cells contain different proteins for each colour-range. The process through which these proteins go is quite similar — upon being subjected to electromagnetic radiation of a particular wavelength and intensity, the protein breaks down into two constituent products. Rhodopsin, of rods, breaks down into opsin and retinal; iodopsin of cones breaks down into photopsin and retinal. The opsin in both opens ion channels on the cell membrane which leads to the generation of an action potential (an impulse which will eventually get to the visual cortex in the brain).

This is the reason why cones and rods enable organisms to see in dark and light conditions — each of the photoreceptor proteins requires a different light intensity to break down into the constituent products. Further, synaptic convergence means that several rod cells are connected to a single bipolar cell, which then connects to a single ganglion cell and information is relayed to the visual cortex. Whereas, a single cone cell is connected to a single bipolar cell. Thus, action potentials from rods share neurons, where those from cones are given their own. This results in the high visual acuity, or the high ability to distinguish between detail, of cone cells and not rods. If a ray of light were to reach just one rod cell this may not be enough to stimulate an action potential. Because several "converge" onto a bipolar cell, enough transmitter molecules reach the synapse of the bipolar cell to attain the threshold level to generate an action potential.

Furthermore, colour is distinguishable when breaking down the iodopsin of cone cells because there are three forms of this protein. One form is broken down by the particular EM wavelength that is red light, another green light, and lastly blue light. In simple terms, this allows human beings to see red, green and blue light. If all three forms of cones are stimulated equally, then white is seen. If none are stimulated, black is seen. Most of the time however, the three forms are stimulated to different extents — resulting in different colors being seen. If, for example, the red and green cones are stimulated to the same extent, and no blue cones are stimulated, yellow is seen. For this reason red, green and blue are called primary colors and the colors obtained by mixing two of them, secondary colors. The secondary colors can be further complimented with primary colors to see tertiary colors.

Acuity

Visual acuity can be measured with several different metrics.

Cycles per degree (CPD) measures how much an eye can differentiate one object from another in terms of degree angles. It is essentially no different from angular resolution. To measure CPD, first draw a series of black and white lines of equal width on a grid (similar to a bar code). Next, place the observer at a distance such that the sides of the grid appear one degree apart. If the grid is 1 meter away, then the grid should be about 8.7 millimeters wide. Finally, increase the number of lines and decrease the width of each line until the grid appears as a solid grey block. In one degree, a human would not be able to distinguish more than about 12 lines without the lines blurring together. So a human can resolve distances of about 0.93 millimeters at a distance of one meter. A horse can resolve about 17 CPD (0.66 mm at 1 m) and a rat can resolve about 1 CPD (8.7 mm at 1 m).

A diopter is the unit of measure of optical power.

Dynamic range

At any given instant, the retina can resolve a contrast ratio of around 100:1 (about 6 1/2 stops). As soon as your eye moves (saccades) it re-adjusts its exposure both chemically and by adjusting the iris. Initial dark adaptation takes place in approximately four seconds of profound, uninterrupted darkness; full adaptation through adjustments in retinal chemistry (the Purkinje effect) are mostly complete in thirty minutes. Hence, over time, a contrast ratio of about 1,000,000:1 (about 20 stops) can be resolved. The process is nonlinear and multifaceted, so an interruption by light nearly starts the adaptation process over again. Full adaptation is dependent on good blood flow; thus dark adaptation may be hampered by poor circulation, and vasoconstrictors like alcohol or tobacco.

Eye movement

Animals with compound eyes have a wide field of vision, allowing them to look in many directions. To see more, they have to move their entire head or even body.

The visual system in the brain is too slow to process that information if the images are slipping across the retina at more than a few degrees per second (Westheimer and McKee, 1954). Thus, for humans to be able to see while moving, the brain must compensate for the motion of the head by turning the eyes. Another complication for vision in frontal-eyed animals is the development of a small area of the retina with a very high visual acuity. This area is called the fovea, and covers about 2 degrees of visual angle in people. To get a clear view of the world, the brain must turn the eyes so that the image of the object of regard falls on the fovea. Eye movements are thus very important for visual perception, and any failure to make them correctly can lead to serious visual disabilities.

Having two eyes is an added complication, because the brain must point both of them accurately enough that the object of regard falls on corresponding points of the two retinas; otherwise, double vision would occur. The movements of different body parts are controlled by striated muscles acting around joints. The movements of the eye are no exception, but they have special advantages not shared by skeletal muscles and joints, and so are considerably different.

How we see an object

The steps of how we see an object:

1. The light rays enter the eye through the cornea (transparent front portion of eye to focus the light rays)
2. Then, light rays move through the pupil, which is surrounded by Iris to keep out extra light
3. Then, light rays move through the crystalline lens (Clear lens to further focus the light rays )
4. Then, light rays move through the vitreous humor (clear jelly like substance)
5. Then, light rays fall on the retina, which processes and converts incident light to neuron signals using special pigments in rod and cone cells.
6. These neuron signals are transmitted through the optic nerve,
7. Then, the neuron signals move through the visual pathway: Optic nerve → Optic Chiasm → Optic Tract → Optic Radiations → Cortex
8. Then, the neuron signals reach the occipital (visual) cortex and its radiations for the brain's processing.
9. The visual cortex interprets the signals as images and along with other parts of the brain, interpret the images to extract form, meaning, memory and context of the images.

Colour vision

What is seen as colour is essentially different combinations of certain ranges of wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum. In humans at least, there are three different kinds of cones for three ranges of wavelengths, roughly red, green and blue light. Each color of cone picks up the intensity of light in its range of wavelengths, and the combination is translated by the brain to a perceived color. Of course, some people lack the ability to see some or all of the colour spectrum: they are referred to as being 'colour blind'.

Extraocular muscles

Each eye has six muscles that control its movements: the lateral rectus, the medial rectus, the inferior rectus, the superior rectus, the inferior oblique, and the superior oblique. When the muscles exert different tensions, a torque is exerted on the globe that causes it to turn. This is an almost pure rotation, with only about one millimeter of translation. Thus, the eye can be considered as undergoing rotations about a single point in the centre of the eye.

Rapid eye movement

Rapid eye movement typically refers to the stage during sleep during which the most vivid dreams occur. During this stage, the eyes move rapidly. It is not in itself a unique form of eye movement.

Saccades

Saccades are quick, simultaneous movements of both eyes in the same direction controlled by the frontal lobe of the brain.

Microsaccades

Even when looking intently at a single spot, the eyes drift around. This ensures that individual photosensitive cells are continually stimulated in different degrees. Without changing input, these cells would otherwise stop generating output. Microsaccades move the eye no more than a total of 0.2° in adult humans.

Vestibulo-ocular reflex

Smooth pursuit movement

The eyes can also follow a moving object around. This is less accurate than the vestibulo-ocular reflex as it requires the brain to process incoming visual information and supply feedback. Following an object moving at constant speed is relatively easy, though the eyes will often make saccadic jerks to keep up. The smooth pursuit movement can move the eye at up to 100°/s in adult humans.

While still, the eye can measure relative speed with high accuracy, however under movement relative speed is highly distorted. Take for example, when watching a plane while standing -- the plane has normal visual speed. However, if an observer watches the plane while moving in the same direction as the plane's movement, the plane will appear as if were standing still or moving very slowly.

When an observer views an object in motion moving away or towards himself, there is no eye movement occurring as in the examples above, however the ability to discern speed and speed difference is still present; although not as severe. The intensity of light (e.g. night vs. day) plays a major role in determining speed and speed difference. For example, no human can with reasonable accuracy, visually determine the speed of an approaching train in the evening as they could during the day. Similarly, while moving, the ability is further diminished unless there is another point of reference for determining speed; however the inaccuracy of speed or speed difference will always be present.

Optokinetic reflex

The optokinetic reflex is a combination of a saccade and smooth pursuit movement. When, for example, looking out of the window in a moving train, the eyes can focus on a 'moving' tree for a short moment (through smooth pursuit), until the tree moves out of the field of vision. At this point, the optokinetic reflex kicks in, and moves the eye back to the point where it first saw the tree (through a saccade).

Vergence movement

When a creature with binocular vision looks at an object, the eyes must rotate around a vertical axis so that the projection of the image is in the centre of the retina in both eyes. To look at an object closer by, the eyes rotate 'towards each other' ( convergence), while for an object farther away they rotate 'away from each other' ( divergence). Exaggerated convergence is called cross eyed viewing (focussing on the nose for example) . When looking into the distance, or when 'staring into nothingness', the eyes neither converge nor diverge.

Vergence movements are closely connected to accommodation of the eye. Under normal conditions, changing the focus of the eyes to look at an object at a different distance will automatically cause vergence and accommodation.

Accommodation

To see clearly, the lens will be pulled flatter or allowed to regain its thicker form.

Diseases, disorders, and age-related changes

There are many diseases, disorders, and age-related changes that may affect the eyes and surrounding structures.

As the eye ages certain changes occur that can be attributed solely to the aging process. Most of these anatomic and physiologic processes follow a gradual decline. With aging, the quality of vision worsens due to reasons independent of aging eye diseases. While there are many changes of significance in the nondiseased eye, the most functionally important changes seem to be a reduction in pupil size and the loss of accommodation or focusing capability ( presbyopia). The area of the pupil governs the amount of light that can reach the retina. The extent to which the pupil dilates also decreases with age. Because of the smaller pupil size, older eyes receive much less light at the retina. In comparison to younger people, it is as though older persons wear medium-density sunglasses in bright light and extremely dark glasses in dim light. Therefore, for any detailed visually guided tasks on which performance varies with illumination, older persons require extra lighting.

With aging a prominent white ring develops in the periphery of the cornea- called arcus senilis. Aging causes laxity and downward shift of eyelid tissues and atrophy of the orbital fat. These changes contribute to the etiology of several eyelid disorders such as ectropion, entropion, dermatochalasis, and ptosis. The vitreous gel undergoes liquefaction ( posterior vitreous detachment or PVD) and its opacities — visible as floaters — gradually increase in number.

Various eye care professionals, including ophthalmologists, optometrists, and opticians, are involved in the treatment and management of ocular and vision disorders. A Snellen chart is one type of eye chart used to measure visual acuity. At the conclusion of an eye examination, an eye doctor may provide the patient with an eyeglass prescription for corrective lenses.