The Eye

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First Edition
Britannica Educational Publishing

Michael I. Levy: Executive Editor
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Kara Rogers: Senior Editor, Biomedical Sciences
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Cindy Reiman: Photography Manager
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Introduction by Sean Price
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The eye : the physiology of human perception / edited by Kara Rogers. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (The human body)
“In association with Britannica Educational Publishing, Rosen Educational Services.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61530-255-0 (eBook)
1. Eye—Popular works. 2. Perception—Physiological aspects—Popular works. I. Rogers,
Kara.
QP475.5.E94 2010
612.8'4—dc22
2009051116
On the cover: The adult human eye is only 24 mm (1 inch) high and slightly wider. This organ
receives an astonishing amount of information and conveys it to the brain for processing. © www.
istockphoto.com / Mads Abildgaard (head), Nurbek Sagynbaev (eye)
Introduction: Patient being fitted for glasses by an eye specialist. Shutterstock.com

CONTENTS
Introduction 10
Chapter 1: Anatomy of the Eye 17

The Eye 18
Outer Tissues of the Eyeball 22
Cornea 22
Uveal Tract 26
Inner Tissues of the Eyeball 30 17
Pigmented Epithelium 30
The Retina 30
Transparent Media of the Eye 39
The Aqueous Humour 39
Vitreous Body 41
Crystalline Lens 42 50
Supporting Structures 42
Orbit 42
Eyelids 43
Tear Ducts and Glands 48
Extraocular Muscles 49
Chapter 2: Protection and

Movements of the Eye 51
Protective Mechanisms 51
Innervation 52
Blink Reflexes 53
Secretion of Tears 54
Movements of the Eyes 56
Axes of the Eye 57
Actions of the Muscles 57
Binocular Movements 58
Nervous Control 60
Reflex Pathways 60
Voluntary Centre 63
Nature of Eye Movements 63
59
Work of the Lens System 66
Refraction 66
Focusing 68
72 Abnormalities of Focus 68
Accommodation 69
Pupil Response 71
Chapter 3:Vision and

the Retina 75
Neuron Networks of the Retina 75
The Work of the Retina 79
Threshold of Light Detection 79
Dark Adaptation 80
Bleaching 82
Minimum Stimulus for Vision 83
Inhibition 86
90 Flicker 87
Visual Acuity 88
Chapter 4: Electrophysiology
of the Retina 95
Neurological Basis 95
The Electroretinogram 98
Resolving Power 99
Colour Vision 100
Spectral Sensitivity 102
Wavelength Discrimination 103
Colour Mixing 105
Young-Helmholtz Theory 107
Neuron Response to Colour 109
Cells of the Receptive Field 112
The Photochemical Process 113
Rhodopsin 113
Transduction 114
Chapter 5: Vision and

the Brain 117
The Visual Pathway 117
Fusion of Retinal Images 119
The Visual Field 119
Lateral Geniculate Body 120
Integration of Retinal Information 123
Perceptual Aspects of Vision 125
131
Relative Positions of Objects 125
Position in Relation to Observer 126
Visual Estimates:
Directions of Lines 127
Visual Estimates:
Comparison of Lengths 128
Depth Perception 129
Binocular Vision 130
Retinal Rivalry 136
Ocular Dominance 137
Binocular Brightness Sensation 139
Neurons of the Visual Centres 140
Ganglion Cells 140
Geniculate Neurons 140
Cortical Neurons 141
Chapter 6: Diseases of the

Outer Eye 144
Diseases of the Orbit 144
Inflammation of the Orbit 144
138
Tumours of the Orbit 146
Diseases of the Eyelids 146
Blepharitis 146
Sty 148
Shingles 149
Malposition of the Lids 150
Tumours of the Lids 152
Diseases of the Conjunctiva 153
Conjunctivitis 153
Trachoma 155
Pterygium 157
Pinguecula 158
Diseases of the Cornea and Sclera 158
Inflammation of the Cornea 158
Keratitis 160
156 Scleritis 162
Degeneration of the Cornea and
Sclera 164
Chapter 7: Diseases of the

Inner Eye 165
Uveitis 165
Anatomical Forms of Uveitis 165
Diagnosis and Treatment
of Uveitis 166
Tumours of the Uveal Tract 168
Diseases of the Lens 169
Cataracts 169
Lens Dislocation 172
Diseases of the Retina 172
Detached Retina 172
Macular Degeneration 174
Retinopathy of Prematurity 176
Coloboma 178
Diseases of the Optic Nerve 179
157 Optic Neuritis 180
Optic Atrophy 181
Glaucoma 181
Chapter 8: Visual Disorders and

173 Eye Injuries 186
Visual Disorders 186
Floaters, Blind Spots, and Flashes 186
Visual Field Defect 188
Nystagmus 189
Defects of Light and Colour
Perception 190
Eyestrain 193
Refractive Errors 193
Vision Loss and Eye Misalignment 198
Blindness 198
Double Vision 200
Ophthalmoplegia 201
Amblyopia 203 202
Strabismus 203
Ocular Injuries 205
Foreign Bodies 206
Chemical and Radiation Injuries 207
Complications of
Systemic Disease 208
The Central Nervous System 208
Arteriosclerosis and
Hypertension 209
Diabetes 210
Thyroid Disease 211
Exophthalmos 211
Rheumatoid Arthritis 212
Chapter 9: Diagnosis and

Treatment of
Eye Diseases 213
Ophthalmology 213
Optometry 215
Ophthalmoscope 216 214
Ophthalmological Examination 217
Optical Aids 220
Eyeglasses 221
Contact Lenses 223
Corrective Surgery 224
LASIK 224
Photorefractive Keratectomy 225
Radial Keratotomy 225
Conclusion 227
Glossary 229
Bibliography 232
Index 233
218
INTRODUCTION
7 Introduction 7
The scientific study of the eye is believed to have origi-

nated with the Greek physician Herophilus, who lived
from about 335 to 280 BCE. Indeed, from his work came
the words that we use today to describe the various parts
of the eye, including the words retina and cornea. In
Herophilus’ day, scientists believed that we could see
because beams of light came out of our eyes and fixed on
objects. In the centuries since, doctors and anatomists
have discovered that vision relies on just the opposite
effect. Human eyes are actually light collectors. Light rays
travel from objects around us and stimulate the light-
sensitive cells in our eyes. This book takes a look at these
amazing organs and how they function to allow us to see
the world.
Anyone staring into another person’s eye would notice
that its exterior is mostly white. This part of the human
eye, the sclera, is made up of fibrous tissue and provides a
tough protective coating around the whole eyeball. The
most noticeable part of any eye is the coloured iris and
the dark pupil that it surrounds. The iris, which works
much like the aperture of a camera, expands in darkness to
let more light into the pupil and contracts in bright light
to keep the light-sensitive cells from being overwhelmed.
The colour of the iris comes from melanin, a substance
that protects the eye from absorbing strong light. In the
centre of the iris is the pupil, which allows light and other
visual information into the interior of the eye. The iris and
pupil are protected by a transparent, domelike cover called
the cornea.
Light enters the interior of the eye by passing through
a crystalline lens, which bulges or flattens, depending on
how far away an image is, and then through a semisolid
gel-filled chamber called the vitreous body. The vitreous
body gives the eye shape and flexibility. Finally, the light
reaches the retina, a membrane made up of layers of cells,
11
7 The Eye: The Physiology of Human Perception 7
which receive visual information and transmit this infor-

mation to the brain.
The eyes would not be able to receive this information
if they did not move. How they move is a complicated pro-
cess. Eyeballs are set into protected parts of the skull
called eye sockets. Between the sockets and the eyeballs
are layers of fat and six thin muscles that gently tug the
eyeball in one direction or another. Most of the actual
movements of the eyes are carried out without awareness.
For example, when a person sees bright light at the edge of
the field of vision, he or she is immediately drawn to look
at it. This response is called the fixation reflex. Scientists
have also learned that the eyes move a number of times
within a single second. These tiny movements help keep
the eyes focused on a world that is constantly in motion
and stimulate the retina to take in fresh visual information
even with stationary objects.
Eyes are delicate and precise organs that are vulnera-
ble to problems. There are, however, a number of
mechanisms in place to protect the eyes. Eyebrows and
eyelashes keep out dust, sweat, and other irritants. Eyelids
lubricate the surface of the eyeball and protect against the
introduction of foreign bodies into the eye. Lacrimal
glands at the outside upper corner of each eye create a
steady supply of tears to keep the eyeballs moist. Tears—
produced by irritation, yawning, and crying—also contain
bacteria-killing enzymes that destroy infections. To keep
the eyes moist, we blink, often involuntarily.
The retina in the back of the eye has an especially valu-
able role to play in vision. Light-sensitive cells in the
retina, known as rods and cones because of their distinc-
tive shapes, enable us to see. For example, cones are highly
sensitive to colour, and thus they are responsible for day-
light (photopic) colour vision and for fine visual
discrimination. Most of them are concentrated around a
12
7 Introduction 7
small dimple in a part of the retina called the fovea, or

macula lutea.
In the darkness of night, the light-sensing rods are far
more helpful than the cone cells. Rods are responsible for
motion detection and for night (scotopic) vision. After 30
minutes in the dark, the human eye can become up to
10,000 times more sensitive to light. Night vision is also
different from day vision because the cones are much less
active, resulting in reduced detection of colour.
As cones and rods react to stimuli, they excite nerve-
cell bodies called ganglions. Ganglion cells send this raw
information to the brain, which then translates it into a
visual image. Scientists have learned much about vision
through studying the electrophysiology of the retina.
Many studies have focused primarily on what happens
when the eyes are electrically stimulated. By placing an
electrode on the eye, scientists can create electroretino-
grams, which show the electrical impulses that enable the
eyes to communicate with the brain. These types of stud-
ies have helped scientists to identify and understand new
information concerning the electrical pathways of the
rods and cones. Such studies have also greatly expanded
scientists’ understanding of how people perceive colour.
Colour blindness, inherited forms of which commonly
affect males, occurs because the colour-sensitive cones in
a person’s retinas are missing or weak. Because in many
cases only certain cones are affected, colour-blind persons
usually can see at least some colour. For instance, a person
whose red cones are missing or do not work cannot distin-
guish between red and green.
When light projects an image onto the retina in the
back of the eye, the image is upside down, reversed (with
respect to left and right), and two-dimensional. The optic
nerve sends this image to the back of the brain, to an area
called the occipital lobe. Fortunately, the brain knows how
13
to translate this image into one that is right side up and

non-reversed. Also, the image appears three-dimensional
because the separation of the two eyes enables each eye to
see an object from a slightly different angle. The brain
takes the two retinas’ information and fuses it into a single
three-dimensional image through a process called stereo-
scopic focus. How the eyes work together and coordinate
two sets of images is a complex topic, one that is explored
in this volume.
In the 20th and early 21st centuries, a significant
amount of information about the human eye was gleaned
from studies of eye disease. Malfunction of the eyes and of
the visual process has helped scientists to understand the
basic structures of the eye and how each structure con-
tributes to vision.
Diseases and other eye problems can take place within
different parts of the eye. Some of the ailments of the
outer eye include sty, an inflammation of the eyelid, and
trachoma, a bacterial disease that is prevalent in poverty-
stricken areas of the world. The eyelashes of trachoma
victims turn inward and brush against the corneas. This
constant irritation can scar the cornea. Inner eye diseases
include problems such as cataracts. In persons with cata-
racts, the lenses of the eyes lose their transparency and
appear to have a milky cover. Cataracts can be caused by
birth defects, wounds, exposure to X-rays, drugs, or old
age. In many cases, cataracts can be corrected by surgery.
There are a variety of conditions that can affect the
retina. For example, the retina can become detached from
the underlying layer of supporting cells called the retinal
pigment epithelium. Retinal detachment can cause “float-
ers”—deposits in the eye that produce visual spots or
shadows. Sometimes retinal detachment is caused by
trauma, but more often it is caused by aging and changes
14
7 Introduction 7
of the gel in the vitreous body. Macular degeneration is a

blinding disorder that is characterized by the gradual dete-
rioration of the retina, particularly the fovea. Persons with
macular degeneration sometimes have blind spots in the
centre of the visual field before they lose their sight
entirely. Premature babies are sometimes treated with
oxygen in order to help them survive their first days of life.
This excess oxygen, however, can cause the infants’ retinal
blood vessels to develop abnormally, giving rise to a condi-
tion known as retinopathy of prematurity, which can lead
to blindness.
Accidents are another important cause of blindness.
Mishaps with household chemicals or even looking at the
sun too long can destroy vision. In addition, there are a
number of abnormalities, including nearsightedness (see-
ing only close objects clearly), farsightedness (seeing only
distant objects clearly), and astigmatism (in which all
objects are blurry), that can result in impaired vision.
Since the 1200s, physicians have been able to correct
ordinary vision problems like nearsightedness and far-
sightedness. Reading glasses were first used in Europe and
China, but they remained expensive and rare. In the 1780s,
Benjamin Franklin became frustrated by repeatedly hav-
ing to take off his reading glasses and put on a different
pair of glasses when he needed to see at a distance. As a
result, Franklin inserted distance lenses in the top half of
his eyeglass frames and reading lenses in the bottom half,
thereby creating the first bifocals.
But it was German scientist Hermann von Helmholtz
who developed the modern field of ophthalmology. He did
it by inventing the ophthalmoscope, which allows doctors
to see inside the eye. Thanks to the pioneering efforts of
Helmholtz and others, there are now three different types
of eye specialists: ophthalmologists, medical doctors who
15
focus on eye problems and perform surgery; optometrists,

who give eye exams and prescribe corrective lenses; and
opticians, who fit, supply, and adjust eyewear for patients.
Painter and inventor Leonardo da Vinci came up with
the idea of contact lenses in 1508. But it wasn’t until 1887
that the first contacts were actually produced. These glass
lenses were so large and uncomfortable that they could be
worn only for an hour at a time. The first practical contact
lenses did not come along until 1938. But these rigid plas-
tic contacts remained uncomfortable for most people.
Finally, in the 1970s, scientists introduced “soft” contacts
made of flexible plastic.
Starting in the 1990s, people began turning to eye
surgery to permanently correct nearsightedness, farsight-
edness, and astigmatism. LASIK (laser-assisted in situ
keratomileusis) surgery has become popular. In this pro-
cedure, doctors cut a tiny flap across the clear cornea and
fold it back so that a laser can then reshape the tissue
underneath. In the mid-2000s, roughly 1.4 million people
a year underwent this type of surgery.
By studying the human eye, medical experts have
learned not only about the eye itself but also about the
way the brain functions as we look out onto the world. As
science moves forward, researchers are discovering new
ways to treat and cure eye diseases and disorders, giving
many persons affected by such conditions the gift of
vision. This book will allow readers to see the human eye
in a new way.
16
CHAPTER1
ANATOMY OF THE EYE
Close-up of a human eye. Shutterstock.com
T he human eye is an amazingly complex structure that

enables sight, one of the most important of the
human senses. Sight underlies our ability to understand
the world around us and to navigate within our environ-
ment. As we look at the world around us, our eyes are
constantly taking in light, a component fundamental to
the visual process. The front of the human eye contains a
curved lens, through which light reflected from objects in
the surrounding environment passes. The light travels
deep into the eyeball, passing all the way to the back of the
eye, where it converges to a point. A unique set of cells at
the back of the eye receives the light, harnessing its energy
by converting it into an electrical impulse, or signal, that
then travels along neurons in the brain. The impulses are
17
carried along a neuronal pathway that extends from the

back of the eye all the way to the back of the brain, ulti-
mately terminating in a region known as the visual cortex.
There, the electrical signals from both eyes are processed
and unified into a single image. The amount of time
between the moment when light enters the eye and when
a unified image is generated in the brain is near instanta-
neous, taking only fractions of a second.
Scientists’ knowledge of the intricacy and the complex
associations of the vital structures within the human eye
expanded tremendously in the 20th and early 21st centu-
ries. Although some of this knowledge was obtained
from studies of the eyes of animals, a significant amount
of information was also gained from studies of diseases of
the human eye. With this knowledge came an understand-
ing of the function of each of the eye structures. Each
structure contributes in a specific way to the visual pro-
cess, and collectively they underlie a broad range of visual
functions, from the perception of an object’s shape, size,
and colour to the perception of distance.
The eye
The eyeball can be viewed as the fusing together of a small
portion of a small, strongly curved sphere with a large por-
tion of a large, not so strongly curved sphere. The small
piece, occupying about one-sixth of the whole, has a radius
of 8 mm (0.3 inch); it is transparent and is called the cor-
nea; the remainder, called the scleral segment, is opaque
and has a radius of 12 mm (0.5 inch). The ring where the
two areas join is called the limbus. Thus, on looking
directly into the eye from in front one sees the white sclera
surrounding the cornea; because the latter is transparent
one sees, instead of the cornea, a ring of tissue lying within
18
7 Anatomy of the Eye 7
the eye, the iris. The iris is the structure that deter-
mines the colour of the eye. The centre of this ring is
called the pupil. It appears dark because the light passing
into the eye is not reflected back to any great extent. By
use of an ophthalmoscope, an instrument that permits
the observer to illuminate the interior of the eyeball while
observing through the pupil, the appearance of the inte-
rior lining of the globe can be made out. The lining, called
the fundus oculi, is characterized by the large blood ves-
sels that supply blood to the retina; these are especially
distinct as they cross over the pale optic disk, or papilla,
the region where the optic nerve fibres leave the globe.
The dimensions of the eye are reasonably constant,
varying among healthy individuals by only a millimetre or
two; the sagittal (vertical) diameter is about 24 mm (about
1 inch) and is usually less than the transverse (horizontal)
diameter. At birth the sagittal diameter is about 16 to 17
mm (about 0.65 inch); it increases rapidly to about 22.5 to
23 mm (about 0.89 inch) by age 3; between ages 3 and 13 the
globe attains its full size. The weight is about 7.5 grams
(0.25 ounce), and its volume 6.5 mm (0.4 cubic inch).
The eye is made up of three coats, which enclose the
optically clear aqueous humour, lens, and vitreous body.
The outermost coat consists of the cornea and the sclera;
the middle coat, or uvea, contains the main blood supply
to the eye and consists, from the back forward, of the cho-
roid, the ciliary body, and the iris. The innermost layer is
the retina, lying on the choroid and receiving most of its
nourishment from the vessels within the choroid, the
remainder of its nourishment being derived from the reti-
nal vessels that lie on its surface and are visible in the
ophthalmoscope. The ciliary body and iris have a very thin
covering, the ciliary epithelium and posterior epithelium
of the iris, which is continuous with the retina.
19
Horizontal cross section of the human eye, showing the structures of the eye,
the visual axis (the central point of image focusing in the retina), and the opti-
cal axis (the axis about which the eye is rotated by the eye muscles).
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Within the cavities formed by this triple-layered coat

there are the crystalline lens, suspended by fine transpar-
ent fibres—the suspensory ligament or zonule of
Zinn—from the ciliary body; the aqueous humour, a clear
fluid filling the spaces between the cornea and the lens
and iris; and the vitreous body, a clear jelly filling the much
larger cavity enclosed by the sclera, the ciliary body, and
the lens. The anterior chamber of the eye is defined as the
space between the cornea and the forward surfaces of
20
the iris and lens, while the posterior chamber is the much
smaller space between the rear surface of the iris and the
ciliary body, zonule, and lens; the two chambers both con-
tain aqueous humour and are in connection through the
pupil. This connection allows the aqueous humour to flow
through the pupil from the posterior chamber to the ante-
rior chamber. From there, the fluid flows out of the eye
through the trabecular meshwork and Schlemm’s canal,
which encircles the peripheral iris. Some aqueous humour
also exits the eye directly through the ciliary body. The
ciliary muscle attachments and the lens separate the aque-
ous humour in front from the vitreous humour behind.
The eye also contains special light receptors, called
photoreceptors, and its construction is much like that of a
simple camera. The retina, an extremely metabolically
active layer of nerve tissue, is made up of millions of pho-
toreceptors. Various structures of the eye function to
focus light onto the retina, with the cornea providing the
greatest focusing power of the eye. The cornea is curved
to a much greater extent than the rest of the eyeball.
However, the shape and focusing power of the cornea are
not adjustable. This is in contrast to the lens, the shape of
which is adjustable and is controlled by the action of the
ciliary body, altering the focusing power of the lens as
needed. The cornea and lens focus an image onto the ret-
ina at the back of the eye. If the image is projected too far
in front of the retina, it causes the visual defect called
myopia, or nearsightedness. If the image is theoretically
focused “behind” the retina, the result is hyperopia, or far-
sightedness. If no deformation of the lens is present,
the image is projected onto the fovea, a structure near the
centre of the retina that contains a large number of cone
photoreceptors and that provides the sharpest vision.
When stimulated by light, retinal photoreceptor cells
21
send signals to neighbouring cells in the retina that then

relay the signals through the optic nerve to the visual cen-
tres of the brain.
Outer tissues of the eyeball

The outermost coat of the eye is made up of the cornea
and the sclera. Though these two structures are essentially
extensions of the same layer of tissue in the eye, they have
distinct functions, with the cornea playing a vital role in
focusing light for photoreception and the sclera fulfilling
an important role in the protection of the eyeball.
Cornea
The cornea is the transparent window of the eye. It is
about 12 mm (0.5 inch) in diameter and, except at its mar-
gins, contains no blood vessels. However, it does contain
many nerves and is very sensitive to pain or touch. It is
nourished and provided with oxygen anteriorly by tears
and is bathed posteriorly by aqueous humour. It protects
the pupil, the iris, and the inside of the eye from penetra-
tion by foreign bodies and is the first and most powerful
element in the eye’s focusing system. As light passes
through the cornea, it is partially refracted before reach-
ing the lens. The curvature of the cornea, which is spherical
in infancy but changes with age, gives it its focusing power;
when the curve becomes irregular, it causes a focusing
defect called astigmatism, in which images appear elon-
gated or distorted.
The cornea contains five distinguishable layers: the
epithelium, or outer covering; Bowman’s membrane;
the stroma, or supporting structure; Descemet’s mem-
brane; and the endothelium, or inner lining. Up to 90
22
percent of the thickness of the cornea is made up of

the stroma. The epithelium, which is a continuation of the
epithelium of the conjunctiva, is itself made up of about
six layers of cells. The superficial layer is continuously
being shed, and the layers are renewed by multiplication
of the cells in the innermost, or basal, layer.
The stroma appears as a set of lamellae, or plates, run-
ning parallel with the surface and superimposed on each
other like the leaves of a book; between the lamellae lie
the corneal corpuscles, cells that synthesize new collagen
(connective tissue protein) essential for the repair and
maintenance of this layer. The lamellae are made up of
microscopically visible fibres that run parallel to form
sheets; in successive lamellae the fibres make a large angle
with each other. The lamellae in humans are about 1.5 to
2.5 micrometres (1 micrometre = 0.001 millimetre) thick,
so that there are about 200 lamellae in the human cornea.
The fibrous basis of the stroma is collagen.
Immediately above the stroma, adjacent to the epithe-
lium, is Bowman’s membrane, about 8 to 14 micrometres
thick; with the electron microscope it is evident that it is
really stroma, but with the collagen fibrils not arranged in
the orderly fashion seen in the rest of the stroma.
Beneath the stroma are Descemet’s membrane and
the endothelium. The former is about 5 to 10 micrometres
thick and is made up of a different type of collagen from
that in the stroma; it is secreted by the cells of the endo-
thelium, which is a single layer of flattened cells. There is
apparently no continuous renewal of these cells as with
the epithelium, so that damage to this layer is a more seri-
ous matter.
The most obvious difference between the opaque
sclera and the transparent cornea is the irregularity in the
sizes and arrangement of the collagen fibrils in the sclera
23
by contrast with the almost uniform thickness and strictly

parallel array in the cornea; in addition, the cornea has a
much higher percentage of mucopolysaccharide (a carbo-
hydrate that has among its repeating units a nitrogenous
sugar, hexosamine) as embedding material for the collagen
fibrils. It has been shown that the regular arrangement of
the fibrils is, in fact, the essential factor leading to the
transparency of the cornea.
When the cornea is damaged—e.g., by a virus infec-
tion—the collagen laid down in the repair processes is
not regularly arranged, with the result that an opaque
patch called a leukoma, may occur. When an eye is
removed or a person dies, the cornea soon loses its trans-
parency, becoming hazy; this is due to the taking in of
fluid from the aqueous humour, the cornea becoming
thicker as it becomes hazier. The cornea can be made to
reassume its transparency by maintaining it in a warm,
well-aerated chamber, at about 31 °C (88 °F, its normal tem-
perature); associated with this return of transparency is a
loss of fluid.
The innermost layer of the cornea, the endothelium,
plays a critical role in keeping the cornea from becoming
swollen with excess fluid. Under normal conditions, the
cornea tends to take in fluid and solutes, mainly from the
aqueous humour and from the small blood vessels
at the limbus. This is counteracted by the active transport
of solutes from the cornea, which results in the movement
of fluid from the cornea via osmotic gradients. The active
transport of solutes depends on an adequate supply of
energy, and any situation that prejudices this supply causes
the cornea to swell—transport fails, or works so slowly
that it cannot remove solutes and fluid as quickly as
they enter.
When endothelial cells are lost, new cells are not pro-
duced; rather, existing cells expand to fill in the space left
24
behind. Once loss of a critical number of endothelial cells

has occurred, however, active transport of solutes
decreases or becomes impaired. As a result, the cornea
swells, causing decreased vision and, in severe cases, sur-
face changes and pain. Endothelial cell loss can be
accelerated via mechanical trauma or abnormal age-
related endothelial cell death (called Fuchs endothelial
dystrophy). Death of the eye causes complete transport
failure, primarily because of the loss of temperature; if the
dead eye is placed in a warm chamber, the reserves of met-
abolic energy it contains in the form of sugar and glycogen
are adequate to keep the cornea transparent for 24 hours
or more. When it is required to store corneas for grafting,
as in an eye bank, the cornea is removed from the globe to
prevent it from absorbing fluid from the aqueous humour.
The cornea is exquisitely sensitive to pain; for example,
a corneal abrasion, or scratch, most often causes a sensa-
tion of something being on the eye and is accompanied by
intense tearing, pain, and light sensitivity. The sensation of
pain in the cornea is mediated by sensory nerve fibres,
called ciliary nerves, that run just underneath the endothe-
lium; they belong to the ophthalmic branch of the fifth
cranial nerve, the large sensory nerve of the head. The cili-
ary nerves leave the globe through openings in the sclera,
not in company with the optic nerve, which is concerned
exclusively with responses of the retina to light.
The sclera is essentially the continuation backward of
the cornea, the collagen fibres of the cornea being, in
effect, continuous with those of the sclera. The sclera is
pierced by numerous nerves and blood vessels; the largest
of these holes is that formed by the optic nerve, the poste-
rior scleral foramen. The outer two-thirds of the sclera in
this region continue backward along the nerve to blend
with its covering, or dural sheath—in fact, the sclera may
be regarded as a continuation of the dura mater, the outer
25
covering of the brain. The inner third of the sclera, com-

bined with some choroidal tissue, stretches across the
opening, and the sheet thus formed is perforated to per-
mit the passage of fasciculi (bundles of fibres) of the optic
nerve. This region is called the lamina cribrosa. The blood
vessels of the sclera are largely confined to a superficial
layer of tissue, and these, along with the conjunctival ves-
sels, are responsible for the bright redness of the inflamed
eye. As with the cornea, the innermost layer is a single
layer of endothelial cells; above this is the lamina fusca,
characterized by large numbers of pigment cells.
Uveal Tract
The middle coat of the eye is called the uvea (from the
Latin for “grape”) because the eye looks like a reddish-blue
grape when the outer coat has been dissected away. The
posterior part of the uvea, the choroid, is essentially a
layer of blood vessels and connective tissue sandwiched
between the sclera and the retina. The forward portion of
the uvea, the ciliary body and iris, is more complex, con-
taining as it does the ciliary muscle and the sphincter and
dilator of the pupil.
The blood supply responsible for nourishing the retina
consists of the retinal and uveal circulations, both of which
derive from branches of the ophthalmic artery. The two
systems of blood vessels differ in that the retinal vessels,
which supply nutrition to the innermost layers of the ret-
ina, derive from a branch of the ophthalmic artery, called
the central artery of the retina, that enters the eye
with the optic nerve, while the uveal circulation, which
supplies the middle and outer layers of the retina as well as
the uvea, is derived from branches of the ophthalmic artery
that penetrate the globe independently of the optic nerve.
26
The ciliary body is the forward continuation of the

choroid. It is a muscular ring, triangular in horizontal sec-
tion, beginning at the region called the ora serrata and
ending, in front, as the root of the iris. The surface is
thrown into folds, called ciliary processes, the whole being
covered by the ciliary epithelium, which is a double layer
of cells; the layer next to the vitreous body, called the inner
layer, is transparent, while the outer layer, which is con-
tinuous with the pigment epithelium of the retina, is
heavily pigmented. These two layers are to be regarded
embryologically as the forward continuation of the retina,
which terminates at the ora serrata. Their function is to
secrete the aqueous humour.
The ciliary muscle is an unstriped, involuntary, muscle
concerned with alterations in the adjustments of focus—
accommodation—of the optical system; the fibres run
both across the muscle ring and circularly, and the effect
of their contraction is to cause the whole body to move
forward and to become fatter, so that the suspensory liga-
ment that holds the lens in place is loosened.
Iris
The most anterior portion of the uvea is the iris. This is
the only portion that is visible to superficial inspection,
appearing as a perforated disc, the central perforation, or
pupil, varying in size according to the surrounding illumi-
nation and other factors. A prominent feature is the
collarette at the inner edge, representing the place of
attachment of the embryonic pupillary membrane that, in
embryonic life, covers the pupil. As with the ciliary body,
with which it is anatomically continuous, the iris consists
of several layers: namely, an anterior layer of endothelium,
the stroma; and the posterior iris epithelium. The stroma
contains the blood vessels and the two sheets of smooth
27
muscle, the sphincter and dilator muscles, that control the

contraction (constriction) and the expansion (dilation) of
the iris, respectively. In addition, the stroma contains pig-
ment cells that determine the colour of the eye.
Posteriorly, the stroma is covered by a double layer of
epithelium, the continuation forward of the ciliary epi-
thelium; here, however, both layers are heavily pigmented
and serve to prevent light from passing through the iris
tissue, confining the optical pathway to the pupil. The
pink iris of the albino is the result of the absence of pig-
ment in these layers. The cells of the anterior layer of the
iris epithelium have projections that become the fibres of
the dilator muscle; these projections run radially, so that
when they contract they pull the iris into folds and widen
the pupil; by contrast, the fibres of the sphincter pupillae
muscle run in a circle around the pupil, so that when they
contract the pupil becomes smaller. By controlling the
size of the pupil, these muscles determine how much light
reaches the sensory tissue of the retina, which is impor-
tant for optimal vision. Thus, in bright light, the sphincter
muscle constricts, whereas in low light or darkness, the
dilator muscle expands the opening.
Eyes that are the colour blue may result from
decreased amounts of pigment in the stroma; the light
reflected back from the posterior epithelium, which is
blue because of scattering and selective absorption,
passes through the stroma to the eye of the observer.
As time goes on, pigment may be deposited, and the
colour may change; thus, if much pigment is laid down
the eye becomes brown or black, if little, it remains
blue or gray.
Inflammation of the iris is termed iritis or anterior
uveitis, a condition that commonly has no determinable
cause. As a result of inflammation, the iris sticks to the
28
lens or the cornea, blocking the normal flow of fluid in the

eye. Complications of iritis include secondary glaucoma
and blindness; treatment usually involves topical steroid
eyedrops.
Pupil
Light must pass through the pupil before it can reach
the lens and be focused onto the retina. Parasympathetic
nerve fibres from the third (oculomotor) cranial nerve
innervate the muscle of the iris that causes constriction
of the pupil, whereas sympathetic nerve fibres control
dilation. The pupillary aperture also narrows when
focusing on close objects and dilates for more distant
viewing. At its maximum contraction, the adult pupil
may be less than 1 mm (0.04 inch) in diameter, and
it may increase up to 10 times to its maximum diameter.
The size of the human pupil may also vary as a result of
age, disease, trauma, or other abnormalities within the
visual system, including dysfunction of the pathways
controlling pupillary movement. Thus, careful evalua-
tion of the pupils is an important part of both eye and
neurologic exams.
Dilator Muscle
The dilator muscle of the iris involuntarily contracts as
available light decreases, thus dilating the pupil. Pupillary
dilation is controlled primarily by the sympathetic ner-
vous system. Interruption of the innervation of the dilator
muscle can cause an abnormally small pupil, a condition
seen as part of Horner syndrome. Traumatic rupture of
iris muscles can cause an irregularly shaped pupil. Dilator
muscles can also be found in other parts of the body such
as the nose, where the dilator naris muscle aids in widen-
ing the nostrils.
29
Inner tissues of the eyeball
Pigmented Epithelium
Separating the choroid (the middle tunic of the globe, or
eyeball) from the retina proper is a layer of pigmented
cells, known as the pigment epithelium. This layer of the
retina acts as a restraining barrier to the indiscriminate
diffusion of material from the blood in the choroid to the
retina. The retina ends at the ora serrata, where the ciliary
body begins. The pigment epithelium continues forward
as a pigmented layer of cells covering the ciliary body; far-
ther forward still, the epithelium covers the posterior
surface of the iris and provides the cells that constitute
the dilator muscle of this diaphragm. Next to the pigment
epithelium of the retina is the neuroepithelium, or rods
and cones. Their continuation forward is represented by a
second layer of epithelial cells covering the ciliary body;
the term ciliary epithelium is used to describe the two lay-
ers of cells that are the embryological equivalent of the
retinal pigment epithelium and the receptor layer (rods
and cones) of the retina. The unpigmented layer of the
ciliary epithelium is continued forward over the back of
the iris, where it acquires pigment and is called the poste-
rior iris epithelium.
The Retina
The retina is a layer of nervous tissue that covers the inside
of the back two-thirds of the eyeball, in which stimulation
by light occurs, initiating the sensation of vision. The ret-
ina is actually an extension of the brain, formed
embryonically from neural tissue and connected to the
30
brain proper by the optic nerve. The retina functions spe-

cifically to receive light and to convert it into chemical
energy. The chemical energy activates nerves that conduct
the electrical messages out of the eye into the higher
regions of the brain.
Ten layers of cells in the retina can be seen microscopi-
cally. In general, there are four main layers: (1) Next to the
choroid is the pigment epithelium. (2) Above the epithe-
lium is the layer of rods and cones, the light-sensitive cells.
The changes induced in the rods and cones by light are
transmitted to (3) a layer of neurons (nerve cells) called
the bipolar cells. These bipolar cells connect with (4) the
innermost layer of neurons, the ganglion cells; and
the transmitted messages are carried out of the eye along
their projections, or axons, which constitute the optic
nerve fibres. Thus, the optic nerve is really a central tract,
rather than a nerve, connecting two regions of the nervous
system, namely, the layer of bipolar cells, and the cells of
the lateral geniculate body, the latter being a visual relay
station in the diencephalon (the rear portion of the
forebrain).
The arrangement of the retinal cells in an orderly man-
ner gives rise to the outer nuclear layer, containing the
nuclei of the rods and cones; the inner nuclear layer, con-
taining the nuclei and perikarya (main cell bodies outside
the nucleus) of the bipolar cells, and the ganglion cell layer,
containing the corresponding structures of the ganglion
cells. The plexiform layers are regions in which the neu-
rons make their interconnections. Thus, the outer
plexiform layer contains the rod and cone projections ter-
minating as the rod spherule and cone pedicle; these make
connections with the dendritic processes of the bipolar
cells, so that changes produced by light in the rods and
cones are transmitted by way of these connections to the
31
bipolar cells. (The dendritic process of a nerve cell is

the projection that receives nerve impulses to the cell; the
axon is the projection that carries impulses from the cell.)
In the inner plexiform layer are the axons of the bipolar
cells and the dendritic processes of the ganglion and ama-
crine cells (the latter are neurons lacking long axons,
instead possessing shorter axon-like projections that relay
signals to ganglion cells). The association is such as to
allow messages in the bipolar cells to be transmitted
to the ganglion cells, the messages then passing out along
the axons of the ganglion cells as optic nerve messages.
The photosensitive cells, or photoreceptors, are of
two kinds, called rods and cones, the rods being usually
much thinner than the cones but both being built up on
the same plan. The light-sensitive pigment is contained in
the outer segment, which rests on the pigment epithe-
lium. Through the other end, called the synaptic body,
effects of light are transmitted to the bipolar cells and to
the horizontal cells of the outer plexiform layer. When
examined in the electron microscope, the outer segments
of the rods and cones are seen to be composed of stacks of
disks, apparently made by the infolding of the limiting
membrane surrounding the outer segment; the visual pig-
ment, located on the surfaces of these disks, is thus spread
over a very wide area, and this contributes to the efficiency
with which light is absorbed by the visual cell.
When light enters the eye, it passes through the cor-
nea and the lens and is refracted, focusing an image onto
the retina. Thus, light must first pass through light-
insensitive layers before it reaches the light-sensitive rods
and cones. The optical disadvantages of this arrangement
are largely overcome by the development of the fovea cen-
tralis, a localized region of the retina, close to the optic
axis of the eye, where the inner layers of the retina are
32
absent. The result is a depression, the foveal pit, where

light has an almost unrestricted passage to the light-sensi-
tive cells. It is essentially this region of the retina that is
employed for accurate vision, the eyes being directed
toward the objects of regard so that their images fall in
this restricted region. If the object of interest is large, so as
to subtend a large angle, then the eye must move rapidly
from region to region so as to bring their images succes-
sively onto the fovea; this is typically seen during reading.
In the central region of the fovea there are cones exclu-
sively; toward its edges, rods also occur, and as successive
zones are reached the proportion of rods increases while
the absolute density of packing of the receptors tends to
decrease. Thus, the central fovea is characterized by an
exclusive population of very densely packed cones; here,
also, the cones are very thin and in form very similar to
rods. The region surrounding the fovea is called the para-
fovea; it stretches about 1,250 micrometres from the
centre of the fovea, and it is here that the highest density
of rods occurs. Surrounding the parafovea, in turn, is the
perifovea, its outermost edge being 2,750 micrometres
from the centre of the fovea; here the density of cones is
still further diminished, the number being only 12 per 100
micrometres compared with 50 per 100 micrometres in
the most central region of the fovea. In the whole human
retina there are said to be about 7,000,000 cones and
from 75,000,000 to 150,000,000 rods. Rods predominate
in nocturnal animals and are most sensitive to reduced
light intensities; in humans they provide night vision and
aid in visual orientation. Cones are more prominent in
humans and those animals that are active during the day
and provide detailed vision (as for reading) and colour per-
ception. In general, the more cones per unit area of retina,
the finer the detail that can be discriminated by that area.
33
The fovea is sometimes referred to as the macula lutea

(“yellow spot”), a circular patch of tissue about 5 to 6 mm
(0.2 to 0.24 inch) in diameter. The macula lutea is a rather
vague area, characterized by the presence of a yellow pig-
ment in the nervous layers, stretching over the whole
central retina; i.e., the fovea, parafovea, and perifovea.
The retina also contains the blind spot, which corresponds
to the optic papilla (optic nerve head), the region on the
nasal side of the retina through which the optic nerve
fibres pass out of the eye.
Although the rods and cones may be said to form a
mosaic, the retina is not organized in a simple mosaic
fashion in the sense that each rod or cone is connected to
a single bipolar cell that itself is connected to a single gan-
glion cell. There are only about 1,000,000 optic nerve
fibres, while there are at least 150,000,000 receptors, so
that there must be considerable convergence of receptors
on the optic pathway. This means that there will be con-
siderable mixing of messages. Furthermore, the retina
contains additional nerve cells besides the bipolar and
ganglion cells; these, the horizontal and amacrine cells,
operate in the horizontal direction, allowing one area of
the retina to influence the activity of another. In this way,
for example, the messages from one part of the retina may
be suppressed by a visual stimulus falling on another, an
important element in the total of messages sent to the
higher regions of the brain. Finally, it has been argued that
some messages may be running the opposite way; they are
called centrifugal and would allow one layer of the retina
to affect another, or higher regions of the brain to control
the responses of the retinal neurons. In primates the exis-
tence of these centrifugal fibres has been finally disproved,
but in such lower vertebrates as the pigeon, their existence
is quite certain.
34
Most of the optic nerve fibres in primates carry their

messages to the lateral geniculate body, a relay station spe-
cifically concerned with vision. Some of the fibres separate
from the main stream and run to a midbrain centre called
the pretectal nucleus, which is a relay centre for pupillary
responses to light.
Rods
Rod cells are photoreceptors that function as specialized
neurons. They convert visual stimuli in the form of pho-
tons (particles of light) into chemical and electrical stimuli
that can be processed by the central nervous system. Rod
cells are stimulated by light over a wide range of intensi-
ties and are responsible for perceiving the size, shape, and
brightness of visual images. They do not perceive colour
and fine detail, tasks performed by the other major type of
light-sensitive cell, the cone. Rod cells are much more sen-
sitive to light than cones.
Rod cells have an elongated structure and consist of
four distinct regions: an outer segment, an inner segment,
the cell body, and the synaptic region. The outer segment
contains the phototransduction apparatus. It is composed
of a series of closely packed membrane disks that contain
the photoreceptor molecule rhodopsin. Genetic muta-
tions in the rhodopsin molecule have been shown to
produce certain forms of retinitis pigmentosa, an inher-
ited degenerative disease of the retinal pigments. The
synaptic region is the site where the rod cell relays its
information to intermediate neurons in the retina. These
neurons connect with ganglion neurons whose axons form
the approximately one million fibres of the optic nerve.
Rhodopsin is made up of a protein called opsin and a
photosensitive chemical derived from vitamin A, 11-cis-
retinaldehyde. Photons of light entering the eye cause the
35
11-cis-retinaldehyde to undergo isomerization (a change in

configuration), forming all-trans-retinaldehyde. This isom-
erization activates the opsin protein, which then interacts
with and activates a small protein called transducin. The
association of opsin with transducin couples the external
stimulus of light to an internal biochemical pathway that
ultimately alters the release of neurotransmitters from the
synaptic region of the cell. This changes the firing of
the intermediate retinal neurons and affects the electrical
impulses sent along the optic nerve to the brain. Such a
complicated relay system allows for some integration and
fine-tuning of these signals.
Rhodopsin molecules are broken down in sunlight or
other bright viewing conditions. This breakdown pre-
vents the overstimulation of the rod cells and makes them
less sensitive to a bright environment. In dim light there is
little breakdown of rhodopsin, and its persisting high con-
centration allows for better vision in a dark environment.
Dark-adapted vision in humans is basically devoid of
colour because it depends almost entirely on the func-
tioning of rods.
Cones
Cones are the second type of photoreceptor occurring in
the retina of the human eye. They are conical in shape and
are associated with colour vision and perception of fine
detail. Shorter and far fewer than the eye’s rods, cones are
less sensitive to low illumination levels and are mediators
of photopic rather than scotopic (Greek skotos, “dark”)
vision. Cones are mostly concentrated within the central
retina (macula), which contains the fovea (depression in
the retina), where no rods are present. In contrast, the
outer edges of the retina contain few cones and many rods.
Chemical changes that occur when light strikes the cones
36
are ultimately relayed as impulses to optic nerve fibres

that enter the brain.
Macula Lutea
The macula lutea is the small yellowish area of the retina
near the optic disk that provides central vision. When the
gaze is fixed on any object, the centre of the macula,
the centre of the lens, and the object are in a straight
line. In the centre of the macula is the cone-containing
fovea. Toward the centre of the macula there are no
blood vessels to interfere with vision; thus, in this area of
the retina, vision in bright light and colour perception
are keenest.
Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) is a rela-
tively common condition in people over age 50. There are
two forms of ARMD, known as wet and dry. In wet ARMD
new blood vessels form beneath the retina that are very
fragile and prone to breakage and bleeding, thereby com-
promising central vision acuity. As a result, wet ARMD
advances more quickly and is more severe than dry
ARMD, which is characterized by the presence of drusen
(tiny yellow deposits on the retina) and the loss of retinal
pigment and may progress so slowly that it goes unno-
ticed. Both conditions reduce central vision but do not
interfere with peripheral vision.
Optic Disk
The optic disk (also known as the optic nerve head) is a
small region within the retina in which there are no pho-
toreceptors (i.e., rods or cones); thus there is no image
detection in this area. The optic disk corresponds to the
blind spot in the visual field of each eye. The blind spot of
the right eye is located to the right of the centre of vision
and vice versa in the left eye. With both eyes open, the
37
blind spots are not perceived because the visual fields

of the two eyes overlap. Indeed, even with one eye closed,
the blind spot can be difficult to detect subjectively
because of the ability of the brain to “fill in” or ignore the
missing portion of the image.
The optic disk can be seen in the back of the eye with
an ophthalmoscope. It is located on the nasal side of the
macula lutea, is oval in shape, and is approximately 1.5 mm
(0.06 inch) in diameter. It is also the entry point into the
eye for major blood vessels that serve the retina. The optic
disk represents the beginning of the optic nerve (second
cranial nerve) and the point where axons from over one
million retinal ganglion cells coalesce. Clinical evaluation
of the optic nerve head is critical in the diagnosis and
monitoring of glaucoma and other optic neuropathies
that may lead to vision loss.
Optic Nerve
The optic nerve is the second cranial nerve, which carries
sensory nerve impulses from the more than one million
ganglion cells of the retina toward the visual centres in the
brain. The vast majority of optic nerve fibres convey infor-
mation regarding central vision.
The optic nerve begins at the optic disk at the back
of the eye. The optic disk forms from the convergence of
ganglion cell output fibres (called axons) as they pass out
of the eye. When the nerve emerges from the back of the
eye, it passes through the remainder of the posterior orbit
(eye socket) and through the bony optic canal to emerge
intracranially on the underside of the front of the brain.
At this point the optic nerve from each eye comes together
and forms an X-shaped structure called the optic chiasm.
Here, approximately one-half of the nerve fibres from
each eye continue on the same side of the brain, and the
remaining nerve fibres cross over at the chiasm to join
38
fibres from the opposite eye on the other side of the brain.
This arrangement is essential for producing binocular
vision. Posterior to the optic chiasm, the nerve fibres
travel in optic tracts to various portions of the brain—pre-
dominantly the lateral geniculate nuclei. Fibres from the
lateral geniculate nuclei form the optic radiations that
course toward the visual cortex located in the occipital
lobes in the back of the brain. Some nerve fibres leave the
optic tract without entering the lateral geniculate nuclei
and instead enter the brain stem to provide information
that ultimately determines pupil size.
The retina, optic disk, optic nerve, optic chiasm,
optic tracts, optic radiations, and visual centres of the
brain are topographically organized to correspond to par-
ticular areas of the visual field. Therefore, damage to, or
pressure on, particular portions of these structures can
produce characteristic deficits in a person’s visual field.
The affected person may or may not notice these visual
field defects.
Transparent media of the eye

Within the cavities enclosed by the three layers of the eye-
ball there are the aqueous humour in the anterior and
posterior chambers; the crystalline lens behind the iris;
and the vitreous body, which fills the large cavity behind
the lens and iris.
The Aqueous Humour
The aqueous humour is an optically clear, slightly alkaline
liquid that occupies the anterior and posterior chambers
of the eye. The aqueous humour resembles blood plasma
in composition but contains less protein and glucose and
more lactic acid and ascorbic acid. It provides these
39
nutrients (as well as oxygen) to eye tissues that lack a direct

blood supply (such as the lens) and also removes their
waste products. In addition, it provides an internal pres-
sure, known as intraocular pressure, that keeps the eyeball
(globe) properly formed. Aqueous humour is formed
from the blood by filtration, secretion, and diffusion
through the ciliary body, a muscular structure located
behind the iris that controls the curvature of the lens.
Aqueous humour leaves the eye through the porous
trabecular meshwork and flows into Schlemm’s canal, a
ringlike passageway around the outer angle of the anterior
chamber in front of the iris. The canal of Schlemm encir-
cles the cornea and connects by small connector channels
to the blood vessels buried in the sclera and forming the
intrascleral plexus or network. From this plexus the blood,
containing the aqueous humour, passes into more superfi-
cial vessels; it finally leaves the eye in the anterior ciliary
veins. The wall of the canal that faces the aqueous humour
is very delicate and allows the fluid to percolate through
by virtue of the relatively high pressure of the fluid within
the eye. Obstruction of this exit, for example, if the iris is
pushed forward to cover the wall of the canal, causes a
sharp rise in the pressure within the eye, a condition that
is known as glaucoma. Often the obstruction is not obvi-
ous, but is caused perhaps by a hardening of the tissue just
adjacent to the wall of the canal—the trabecular mesh-
work, in which case the rise of pressure is more gradual
and insidious. Ultimately the abnormal pressure damages
the retina and causes a variable degree of blindness.
Therapies for glaucoma are aimed at lowering eye
pressure by increasing the outflow of aqueous humour
from the eye and decreasing its production by the ciliary
body. Two types of surgery that increase outflow of fluid
from the eye include trabeculoplasty, a type of laser sur-
gery that increases the permeability of the trabecular
40
meshwork, and trabeculectomy (also called filtering

microsurgery). Trabeculectomy diverts aqueous humour
from the anterior chamber inside the eye to the space
under the conjunctiva (the transparent skin that covers
the sclera).
The normal intraocular pressure is about 15 mm
(0.6 inch) of mercury above atmospheric pressure, so
that if the anterior chamber is punctured by a hypoder-
mic needle the aqueous humour flows out readily. Its
function in maintaining the eye reasonably hard is seen by
the collapse and wrinkling of the cornea when the fluid is
allowed to escape. An additional function of the fluid is to
provide nutrition for the crystalline lens and also for
the cornea, both of which are devoid of blood vessels; the
steady renewal and drainage serve to bring into the eye
various nutrient substances, including glucose and amino
acids, and to remove waste products of metabolism.
Vitreous Body
The vitreous body is a semisolid gel structure that is
remarkable for the small amount of solid matter that it
contains. The solid material is made up of a form of colla-
gen, vitrosin, and hyaluronic acid (a mucopolysaccharide).
Thus, its composition is rather similar to that of the cor-
nea, but the proportion of water is much greater, about 98
percent or more, compared with about 75 percent for the
cornea. The jelly is probably secreted by certain cells of the
retina. In general, the vitreous body is devoid of cells, in
contrast with the lens, which is packed tight with cells.
Embedded in the surface of the vitreous body, however,
there is a population of specialized cells, the hyalocytes of
Balazs, which may contribute to the breakdown and
renewal of the hyaluronic acid. The vitreous body serves to
keep the underlying retina pressed against the choroid.
41
Crystalline Lens
The lens is a transparent body, flatter on its anterior (front)

than on its posterior (rear) surface, and suspended within
the eye by the zonular fibres of Zinn attached to its equa-
tor; its anterior surface is bathed by aqueous humour, and
its posterior surface by the vitreous body. The lens is a
mass of tightly packed transparent fibrous cells, the lens
fibres, enclosed in an elastic collagenous capsule. The
lens fibres are arranged in sheets that form successive lay-
ers; the fibres run from pole to pole of the lens, the middle
of a given fibre being in the equatorial region. On meridi-
onal (horizontal) section, the fibres are cut longitudinally
to give an onion-scale appearance, whereas a section at
right-angles to this—an equatorial section—would cut all
the fibres across, and the result would be to give a honey-
comb appearance. The epithelium, covering the anterior
surface of the lens under the capsule, serves as the origin
of the lens fibres, both during embryonic and fetal devel-
opment and during infant and adult life, the lens continuing
to grow by the laying down of new fibres throughout life.
Supporting structures
Orbit
The eye is protected from mechanical injury by being
enclosed in a socket, or orbit, which is made up of por-
tions of several of the bones of the skull to form a four-sided
pyramid the apex of which points back into the head.
Thus, the floor of the orbit is made up of parts of the max-
illa, zygomatic, and palatine bones, while the roof is made
up of the orbital plate of the frontal bone and, behind this,
by the lesser wing of the sphenoid. The optic foramen, the
42
opening through which the optic nerve runs back into the
brain and the large ophthalmic artery enters the orbit, is
at the nasal side of the apex; the superior orbital fissure is
a larger hole through which pass large veins and nerves.
These nerves may carry nonvisual sensory messages—e.g.,
pain—or they may be motor nerves controlling the mus-
cles of the eye. There are other fissures and canals
transmitting nerves and blood vessels. The eyeball and its
functional muscles are surrounded by a layer of orbital fat
that acts much like a cushion, permitting a smooth rota-
tion of the eyeball about a virtually fixed point, the centre
of rotation. The protrusion of the eyeballs—proptosis—
in exophthalmic goitre is caused by the collection of
fluid in the orbital fatty tissue.
Eyelids
It is vitally important that the front surface of the eyeball,
the cornea, remain moist. This is achieved by the eyelids,
which during waking hours sweep the secretions of the
lacrimal apparatus and other glands over the surface at
regular intervals and which during sleep cover the eyes
and prevent evaporation. Maintaining moisture levels is
vital for the normal functioning of the conjunctiva and
cornea. The conjunctiva is the mucous membrane that
lines the eyelid and covers the visible portion of the eye-
ball except the cornea.
The lids are essentially folds of tissue covering the
front of the orbit and, when the eye is open, leaving an
almond-shaped aperture. The points of the almond are
called canthi; that nearest the nose is the inner canthus,
and the other is the outer canthus. The lid may be divided
into four layers: (1) the skin, containing glands that open
onto the surface of the lid margin, and the eyelashes; (2) a
muscular layer containing principally the orbicularis oculi
43
muscle, responsible for lid closure; (3) a fibrous layer that

gives the lid its mechanical stability, its principal portions
being the tarsal plates, which border directly upon the
opening between the lids, called the palpebral aperture;
and (4) the innermost layer of the lid, a portion of the con-
junctiva. The conjunctiva is a mucous membrane that
serves to attach the eyeball to the orbit and lids but per-
mits a considerable degree of rotation of the eyeball in the
orbit. The lid borders are kept lubricated by an oily secre-
tion (called sebum) of the meibomian glands. This
secretion forms part of the tear film and reduces evapora-
tive tear loss.
Eyelids and eyelashes help to keep foreign substances from entering the eye.
Shutterstock.com
The movable tissues of the eyelids, namely the skin

and muscle, enable them to help prevent injuries to the
eye from foreign bodies. The primary defense provided by
the eyelids is the blink reflex. Impulses for eyelid closing
come by way of the facial (seventh cranial) nerve, and for
opening by way of the oculomotor (third cranial) nerve.
44
Conjunctiva
The conjunctiva lines the eyelids and then bends back over
the surface of the eyeball, constituting an outer covering
to the forward part of this and terminating at the transpar-
ent region of the eye, the cornea. The portion that lines
the lids is called the palpebral portion of the conjunctiva;
the portion covering the white of the eyeball is called the
bulbar conjunctiva. Between the bulbar and the palpebral
conjunctiva there are two loose, redundant portions form-
ing recesses that project back toward the equator of the
globe. These recesses are called the upper and lower forni-
ces, or conjunctival sacs; it is the looseness of the
conjunctiva at these points that makes movements of lids
and eyeball possible.
Fibrous Layer
The fibrous layer, which gives the lid its mechanical stabil-
ity, is made up of the thick, and relatively rigid, tarsal
plates, bordering directly on the palpebral aperture, and
the much thinner palpebral fascia, or sheet of connec-
tive tissue; the two together are called the septum
orbitale. When the lids are closed, the whole opening of
the orbit is covered by this septum. Two ligaments,
the medial and lateral palpebral ligaments, attached to the
orbit and to the septum orbitale, stabilize the position of
the lids in relation to the globe. The medial ligament is by
far the stronger.
Muscles of the Lids

Closure of the lids is achieved by contraction of the orbi-
cularis muscle, a single oval sheet of muscle extending from
the regions of the forehead and face and surrounding the
orbit into the lids. It is divided into orbital and palpebral
portions, and it is essentially the palpebral portion, within
45
the lid, that causes lid closure. The palpebral portion passes
across the lids from a ligament called the medial palpebral
ligament and from the neighbouring bone of the orbit in a
series of half ellipses that meet outside the outer corner
of the eye, the lateral canthus, to form a band of fibres
called the lateral palpebral raphe. Additional parts of the
orbicularis have been given separate names—namely,
Horner’s muscle and the muscle of Riolan; they come into
close relation with the lacrimal apparatus and assist in
drainage of the tears. The muscle of Riolan, lying close to
the lid margins, contributes to keeping the lids in close
apposition. The orbital portion of the orbicularis is not
normally concerned with blinking, which may be carried
out entirely by the palpebral portion; however, it is con-
cerned with closing the eyes tightly. The skin of the
forehead, temple, and cheek is then drawn toward the
medial (nose) side of the orbit, and the radiating furrows,
formed by this action of the orbital portion, eventually
lead to the so-called crow’s feet of elderly persons. It
must be appreciated that the two portions can be activated
independently; thus, the orbital portion may contract,
causing a furrowing of the brows that reduces the amount
of light entering from above, while the palpebral portion
remains relaxed and allows the eyes to remain open.
Opening of the eye is not just the result of passive
relaxation of the orbicularis muscle but also is the effect of
the contraction of the levator palpebrae superioris muscle
of the upper lid. This muscle takes origin with the extra-
ocular muscles at the apex of the orbit as a narrow tendon
and runs forward into the upper lid as a broad tendon, the
levator aponeurosis, which is attached to the forward sur-
face of the tarsus and the skin covering the upper lid.
Contraction of the muscle causes elevation of the upper
eyelid. The nervous connections of this muscle are closely
related to those of the extraocular muscle required to
46
elevate the eye, so that when the eye looks upward the
upper eyelid tends to move up in unison.
The orbicularis and levator are striated muscles under
voluntary control. The eyelids also contain smooth (invol-
untary) muscle fibres that are activated by the sympathetic
division of the autonomic system and tend to widen
the palpebral fissure (the eye opening) by elevation of the
upper, and depression of the lower, lid.
In addition to the muscles already described, other
facial muscles often cooperate in the act of lid closure or
opening. Thus, the corrugator supercilii muscles pull the
eyebrows toward the bridge of the nose, making a project-
ing “roof ” over the medial angle of the eye and producing
characteristic furrows in the forehead; the roof is used pri-
marily to protect the eye from the glare of the sun. The
pyramidalis, or procerus, muscles occupy the bridge of
the nose; they arise from the lower portion of the nasal
bones and are attached to the skin of the lower part of the
forehead on either side of the midline; they pull the skin
into transverse furrows. In lid opening, the frontalis mus-
cle, arising high on the forehead, midway between the
coronal suture, a seam across the top of the skull, and the
orbital margin, is attached to the skin of the eyebrows.
Contraction therefore causes the eyebrows to rise and
opposes the action of the orbital portion of the orbicu-
laris; the muscle is especially used when one gazes upward.
It is also brought into action when vision is rendered dif-
ficult either by distance or the absence of sufficient light.
Skin
The outermost layer of the eyelid is the skin, with features
not greatly different from skin on the rest of the body,
with the possible exception of large pigment cells, which,
although found elsewhere, are much more numerous in
the skin of the lids. The cells may wander, and it is these
47
movements of the pigment cells that determine the

changes in colouration seen in some people with altera-
tions in health. The skin has sweat glands and hairs. As the
junction between skin and conjunctiva is approached,
the hairs change their character to become eyelashes.
Tear Ducts and Glands

Tear ducts and glands, also called lacrimal ducts and
glands, are structures that produce and distribute the
watery component of the tear film. Tears are constantly
secreted at a relatively regular rate from satellite (or acces-
sory) lacrimal glands located high in the superior upper
lid. Reflex tearing, such as that stimulated by eye irrita-
tion, bright lights, or emotional upset, is provided by the
main lacrimal glands. Each main lacrimal gland lies in a
hollow space in the inner surfaces of the frontal bone,
located above and laterally to the eye. Each is about the
size and shape of a shelled almond and is divided by a
fibrous partition into an upper and a lower portion. Ducts
from the gland discharge the tears onto the eye surface
through openings, where the conjunctiva lining the upper
lid meets the conjunctiva that covers the eyeball (an area
called the fornix). Tears leave each eye by way of upper
and lower canalicular ducts, which have barely visible
openings, called puncta, at the nasal end of the upper and
lower lid margins. The canaliculi lead to the lacrimal sac
near the inner corner of each eye, which itself empties
into the nasolacrimal duct, a tubelike structure that
directs tears into the nasal cavity.
Tears consist of a complex and usually clear fluid that
is diffused between the eye and the eyelid. Further com-
ponents of the tear film include an inner mucous layer
produced by specialized conjunctival cells and an outer
lipid layer produced by meibomian, or tarsal, glands, which
48
consist of a row of elongated glands extending through the

tarsal plates along the eyelid margin. The meibomian
glands secrete an oil that emerges onto the surface of the
lid margin and acts as a barrier for the tear fluid, which
accumulates in the grooves between the eyeball and the
lid barriers. Thus, the mucous layer helps the tear film
adhere to the eye surface, while the lipid layer serves to
reduce tear evaporation. Tears prevent excessive drying of
the surfaces of the eye (such as the conjunctiva and cor-
nea), provide some nutrition and oxygen to surface
structures, and possess antibacterial properties.
Diseases that damage the lacrimal gland, and thus
decrease tear secretion, can lead to chronic dry eye, which
ultimately can threaten vision. Treatment of chronic dry
eye consists of artificial lubrication and, in some cases,
mechanical closure of the puncta or surgery to partially
close the lids.
Extraocular Muscles
Six muscles outside the eye govern its movements. These

muscles are the four rectus muscles—the inferior, medial,
lateral, and superior recti—and the superior and inferior
oblique muscles. The rectus muscles arise from a fibrous
ring that encircles the optic nerve at the optic foramen,
the opening through which the nerve passes, and are
attached to the sclera, the opaque portion of the eyeball,
in front of the equator, or widest part, of the eye. The
superior oblique muscle arises near the rim of the optic
foramen and somewhat nearer the nose than the origin of
the rectus medialis. It ends in a rounded tendon that
passes through a fibrous ring, the trochlea, that is
attached to the frontal bone. The trochlea acts as a pul-
ley. The tendon is attached to the sclera back of the
equator of the eye.
49
The muscles outside the eye help them to move. De Agostini Picture Library/
Getty Images
The inferior oblique muscle originates from the floor

of the orbit, passes under the eyeball like a sling, and is
attached to the sclera between the attachments of the
superior and lateral rectus muscles. The rectus muscles
direct the gaze upward and downward and from side to
side. The inferior oblique muscle tends to direct the
eye upward, and the superior oblique to depress the eye;
because of the obliqueness of the pull, each causes the
eye to roll, and in an opposite direction.
The oblique muscles are strictly antagonistic to each
other, but they work with the vertical rectus muscles in so
far as the superior rectus and inferior oblique both tend to
elevate the gaze and the inferior rectus and superior
oblique both tend to depress the gaze. The superior and
inferior recti do not produce a pure action of elevation or
depression because their plane of action is not exactly ver-
tical; in consequence, as with the obliques, they cause
some degree of rolling (torsion), but by no means so great
as that caused by the obliques; the direction of rolling
caused by the rectus muscle is opposite to that of its syn-
ergistic oblique; the superior rectus causes the eye to roll
inward, and the inferior oblique outward.
50
CHAPTER2
PROTECTION AND
MOVEMENTS OF
THE EYE
T he protection of the eye from physical injury is cru-

cial in a world where damage to the visual apparatus
is under threat from environmental factors, such as wind
and heat, and from myriad other harmful elements, includ-
ing infectious organisms and chemicals. Various structures
of the eye play fundamental roles in protection, with the
first line of defense being the eyelids.
Movements of the eye are important for controlling
and optimizing vision. Small muscles attached to the eye
function to change the shape of the lens, as well as the
shape of the eyeball itself, enabling vision to be focused on
objects at varying distances. In addition, guided by finely
controlled muscles, the human eye can rotate indepen-
dently of head movement. Such ability to move the eyes
without moving the head or body is useful for viewing
objects that occur in the periphery of the visual field and
is especially important if the neck or body becomes immo-
bilized due to paralysis.
prOTecTive mechanisms
The first line of protection of the eyes is provided by the
eyelids, which prevent access of foreign bodies and assist
in the lubrication of the corneal surface. Lid closure
and opening are accomplished by the orbicularis oculi and
levator palpebri muscles; the orbicularis oculi operates on
51
both lids, bringing their margins into close apposition

in the act of lid closure. Opening results from relaxation
of the orbicularis muscle and contraction of the levator
palpebri of the upper lid; the smooth muscle of the upper
lid, Müller’s muscle, or the superior palpebral muscle, also
assists in widening the lid aperture.
The lower eyelid does not possess a muscle corre-
sponding to the levator (a muscle that raises a body part)
of the upper lid, and the only muscle available for causing
an active lowering of the lid, required during the depres-
sion of the gaze, is the inferior palpebral muscle, which
is analogous to the muscle of Müller of the upper lid
(called the superior palpebral muscle). This inferior palpe-
bral muscle is so directly fused with the sheaths of the
ocular muscles that it provides cooperative action, open-
ing of the lid on downward gaze being mediated, in effect,
mainly by the inferior rectus.
Innervation
The seventh cranial nerve—the facial nerve—supplies the
motor fibres for the orbicularis muscle. The levator, is
innervated, or stimulated into action, by the third cranial
nerve—the oculomotor nerve. This nerve also innervates
some of the extraocular muscles concerned with rotation
of the eyeball, including the superior rectus. The smooth
muscle of the eyelids and orbit is activated by the sympa-
thetic division of the autonomic system. The secretion of
adrenaline during such states of excitement as fear would
also presumably cause contraction of the smooth muscle,
but it seems unlikely that this would lead to the protru-
sion of the eyes traditionally associated with extreme fear.
It is possible that the widening of the lid aperture occur-
ring in this excited state, and dilation of the pupil, create
the illusion of eye protrusion.
52
7 Protection and Movements of the Eye 7
Blinking is normally an involuntary act but may be car-

ried out voluntarily. The more vigorous “full closure” of
the lids involves the orbital portion of the orbicularis mus-
cle and may be accompanied by contraction of the facial
muscles that have been described as accessory muscles of
blinking: namely, the corrugator supercilii, which on con-
traction pulls the eyebrows toward the bridge of the nose;
and the procerus or pyramidalis, which pulls the skin of
the forehead into horizontal folds, acting as a protection
when the eyes are exposed to bright light. The more vigor-
ous full closure may be evoked as a reflex response.
Blink Reflexes
Reflex blinking may be caused by practically any periph-
eral stimulus, but the two functionally significant
reflexes are (1) that resulting from stimulation of the
endings of the fifth cranial nerve in the cornea, lid, or
conjunctiva—the sensory blink reflex, or corneal reflex—
and (2) that caused by bright light—the optical blink
reflex. The corneal reflex is rapid (0.1 second reflex time)
and is the last to disappear in deepening anesthesia,
impulses being relayed from the nucleus of the fifth nerve
to the seventh cranial nerve, which transmits the motor
impulses. The reflex is said to be under the control of a
medullary centre. The optical reflex is slower; in humans,
the nervous pathway includes the visual cortex (the outer
substance of the brain; the visual centre is located in the
occipital—rear—lobe). The reflex is absent in children of
less than nine months.
In the waking hours the eyes blink fairly regularly at
intervals of two to 10 seconds, the actual rate being a char-
acteristic of the individual. The function of this is to
spread the lacrimal secretions over the cornea. It might be
thought that each blink would be reflexly determined by a
53
corneal stimulus—drying and irritation—but extensive

studies indicate that this view is wrong; the normal blink-
ing rate is apparently determined by the activity of a
“blinking centre” in the globus pallidus of the caudate
nucleus, a mass of nerve cells between the base and the
outer substance of the brain. This is not to deny that
the blink rate is modified by external stimuli.
There is a strong association between blinking and the
action of the extraocular muscles. Eye movement is gener-
ally accompanied by a blink, and it is thought that this aids
the eyes in changing their fixation point.
Secretion of Tears
The exposed surface of the globe (eyeball) is kept moist
by the tears secreted by the lacrimal apparatus, together
with the mucous and oily secretions of the other secretory
organs and cells of the lids and conjunctiva. The secretion
produces what has been called the precorneal film, which
consists of an inner layer of mucus, a middle layer of lacri-
mal secretion, and an outer oily film that reduces the rate
of evaporation of the underlying watery layer. The normal
daily (24-hour) rate of secretion has been estimated at
about 0.75 to 1.1 grams (0.03 to 0.04 ounce); secretion
tends to decrease with age. Chemical analysis of the tears
reveals a typical body fluid with a salt concentration simi-
lar to that of blood plasma. An interesting component is
lysozyme, an enzyme that has bactericidal action by virtue
of its power of dissolving away the outer coats of many
bacteria.
Tears are secreted reflexly in response to a variety of
stimuli—e.g., irritative stimuli to the cornea, conjunctiva,
nasal mucosa; hot or peppery stimuli applied to the mouth
and tongue; or bright lights. In addition, tear flow occurs
54
in association with vomiting, coughing, and yawning. The

secretion associated with emotional upset is called
psychical weeping. Severing of the sensory root of the tri-
geminal (fifth cranial) nerve prevents all reflex weeping,
leaving psychical weeping unaffected; similarly, the appli-
cation of cocaine to the surface of the eye, which paralyzes
the sensory nerve endings, inhibits reflex weeping, even
when the eye is exposed to potent tear gases. The afferent
(sensory) pathway in the reflex is thus by way of the fifth
cranial, or the trigeminal nerve. The motor innervation is
by way of the autonomic (involuntary) division; the para-
sympathetic supply derived from the facial nerve (the
seventh cranial nerve) seems to have the dominant motor
influence. Thus, drugs that mimic the parasympathetic
input, such as acetylcholine, provoke secretion, and
secretion may be blocked by such typical anticholinergic
drugs as atropine.
Psychical weeping is weeping caused by emotion. Shutterstock.com
55
Innervation of the lacrimal gland is not always com-

plete at birth, so the newborn infant is generally said to
cry without weeping. Because absence of reflex tearing
fails to produce any serious drying of the cornea, and sur-
gical destruction of the main lacrimal gland is often
without serious consequences, it seems likely that the sub-
sidiary secretion from the accessory lacrimal glands is
adequate to keep the cornea moist. The reflex secretion
that produces abundant tears may be regarded as an emer-
gency response.
A drainage mechanism for tears is necessary only dur-
ing copious secretion. The mechanism, described as the
lacrimal pump, consists of alternately negative and posi-
tive pressure in the lacrimal sac caused by the contraction
of the orbicularis muscle during blinking.
Movements of the eyes

Because only a small portion of the retina, the fovea, is
actually employed for distinct vision, it is vitally impor-
tant that the motor apparatus governing the direction of
gaze be extremely precise in its operation, and rapid. Thus,
the gaze must shift swiftly and accurately during the pro-
cess of reading. Again, if the gaze must remain fixed on a
single small object—e.g., a golf ball—the eyes must keep
adjusting their gaze to compensate for the continuous
small movements of the head and to maintain the image
exactly on the fovea. The extraocular muscles that carry
out these movements are under voluntary control; thus,
the direction of regard can be changed deliberately. Most
of the actual movements of the eyes are carried out with-
out awareness, however, in response to movements of the
objects in the environment, or in response to movements
of the head or the rest of the body, and so on. In examining
the mechanisms of the eye movements, then, one must
56
resolve them into a number of reflex responses to changes

in the environment or the individual, remembering, of
course, that there is an overriding voluntary control.
Axes of the Eye

It is worthwhile at this point to define certain axes of the
eyes employed during different types of study. The optic
axis of the eye is a line drawn through the centre of the
cornea and the nodal (central) point of the eye; it actually
does not intersect with the retina at the centre of the
fovea as might be expected, but toward the nose from this,
so that there is an angle of about five degrees between
(1) the visual axis—the line joining the point fixated
(the point toward which the gaze is directed) and the
nodal point—and (2) the optic axis.
Actions of the Muscles

The general modes of action of the six extraocular muscles
can be described in connection with their anatomy: rota-
tion of the eye toward the nose is carried out by the medial
rectus; outward movement is by the lateral rectus. Upward
movements are carried out by the combined actions of the
superior rectus and the inferior oblique muscles, and
downward movements by the inferior rectus and the supe-
rior oblique. Intermediate directions of gaze are achieved
by combined actions of several muscles. When the two
eyes act together, as they normally do, and change their
direction of gaze to the left, for example, the left eye
rotates away from the nose by means of its lateral rectus,
while the right eye turns toward the nose by means of its
medial rectus. These muscles may be considered as a
linked pair; that is, when they are activated by the central
nervous system this occurs conjointly and virtually
57
automatically. This linking of the muscles of the two eyes

is an important physiological feature and has still more
important pathological interest in the analysis of squint,
when the two eyes fail to be directed at the same point.
Binocular Movements
The binocular movements (the movements of the two
eyes) fall into two classes, the conjugate movements, when
both eyes move in the same direction, as in a change in
the direction of gaze, and disjunctive movements,
when the eyes move in opposite directions. Thus, during
convergence onto a near object both eyes move toward
the nose; the movement is horizontal, but disjunctive, by
contrast with the conjugate movement when both eyes
move, say, to the right. The disjunctive movement of con-
vergence can be carried out voluntarily, but the act is
usually brought about reflexly in response to the changed
optical situation—i.e., the nearness of the object of gaze.
A seesaw movement of the eyes, whereby one eye looks
upward and the other downward, is possible, but not vol-
untarily; to achieve this a prism is placed in front on one
eye so that the object seen through it appears displaced
upward or downward; the other eye sees the object where
it is. The result of such an arrangement is that, unless the
eye with the prism in front makes an upward or downward
movement, independent of the other, the images will not
fall on corresponding parts of the retinas in the two eyes.
Such a noncorrespondence of the retinal images causes
double vision; to avoid this, there is an adjustment in the
alignment of the eyes so that a seesaw movement is actu-
ally executed.
In a similar way, the eyes may be made to undergo tor-
sion, or rolling. A conjugate torsion, in which both eyes
rotate about their anteroposterior (fore-and-aft) axes in
58
This photograph illustrates disjunctive movement, when the eyes move in

opposite directions. Thus, during convergence onto a near object both eyes
move toward the nose. Tancrediphoto.com/Iconica/Getty Images
59
the same sense, occurs naturally; for example, when the

head tips toward one shoulder the eyes tend to roll in
the opposite direction, with the result that the image
of the visual field on the retina tends to remain vertical in
spite of the rotation of the head.
Nervous Control
The nerves controlling the actions of the muscles are the
third, fourth, and sixth cranial nerves, with their bodies
(nuclei) in the brainstem; the third, or oculomotor nerve,
controls the superior and inferior recti, the medial rectus,
and inferior oblique; the fourth cranial nerve, the troch-
lear nerve, controls the superior oblique; and the sixth,
the abducens nerve, controls the lateral rectus. The nuclei
of these nerves are closely associated; especially, there are
connections between the nuclei of the sixth cranial nerve,
controlling the lateral rectus, and the nucleus of the
third, controlling the medial rectus; it is through this close
relationship that the linking of the lateral rectus of one
eye and the medial rectus of the other is achieved.
Another type of linking is concerned with reciprocal
inhibition; that is, when there are two antagonistic mus-
cles, such as the medial and the lateral rectus, contraction
of one is accompanied by a simultaneous inhibition of the
other. Muscles show a continuous slight activity even
when at rest; this keeps them taut; this action, called tonic
activity, is brought about by discharges in the motor nerve
to the muscle. Hence, when the agonist muscle contracts
its antagonist must be inhibited.
Reflex Pathways
In examining any reflex movement one must look for the
sensory input—i.e., the way in which messages in sensory
60
nerves bring about discharges in the motor nerves to the

muscles; this study involves the connections of the motor
nerves or nuclei with other centres of the brain.
When a subject is looking straight ahead and a bright
light appears in the periphery of the field of vision, the
subject’s eyes automatically turn to fix on the light; this is
called the fixation reflex. The sensory pathway in the
reflex arc leads as far as the cerebral cortex because
removal of the occipital cortex (the outer brain substance
at the back of the head) abolishes reflex eye movements in
response to light stimuli. If the occipital cortex is stimu-
lated electrically, movements of the eyes may be induced,
and in fact one may draw a pattern of the visual field on
the occipital cortex corresponding with the directions in
which the gaze is turned when given points on the cortex
are stimulated. This pattern corresponds with the pattern
obtained by recording the visual responses to light stimuli
from different parts of the visual field. The remainder of
the pathway—i.e., from the occipital cortex to the motor
neurons in the brainstem—has long been considered to
involve the superior colliculi, a paired formation on the
roof of the midbrain, as relay stations, and they certainly
have such a role in lower animals; but in humans a pathway
from the cortex to the eye-muscle nuclei independent of
the superior colliculi of the midbrain is generally assumed.
Continual movements of the eyes occur even when an
effort is made to maintain steady fixation of an object.
Some of these movements may be regarded as manifesta-
tions of the fixation reflex; thus, the eyes tend to drift off
their target, and, because of this, the fixation reflex comes
into play, bringing the eyes back on target. Experimentally,
the fixation reflex can be studied by observation of the
regular to-and-fro movements of the eyes as they follow a
rotating drum striped in black and white. (Such move-
ments of the eyes directed at a moving object are called
61
optokinetic nystagmus; nystagmus itself is the involun-

tary movement of the eye back and forth, up and down, or
in a rotatory or a mixed fashion.) While the eyes watch the
moving drum, they involuntarily make a slow movement
as a result of fixing their gaze on a particular stripe. At a
certain point, fixation is broken off, and the eyes spring
back to fix on a new stripe. Thus, the nystagmus consists
of a slow movement with angular velocity equal to that of
the rotation of the drum, then a fast saccade, or jump from
one point of fixation to another, in the opposite direction;
the process is repeated indefinitely.
Another type of nystagmus reveals the play of another
set of reflexes. These are mediated by the semicircular
canals—i.e., the organs of balance or the vestibular appa-
ratus. Such a reflex may be evoked by rotating the subject
in a chair at a steady speed; the eyes move slowly in the
opposite direction to that of rotation and, at the end of
their excursion, jump back with a fast saccade in the direc-
tion of rotation. If rotation suddenly ceases, the eyes go
into a nystagmus in the opposite direction, the postrota-
tory nystagmus.
During rotation, certain semicircular canals are being
stimulated, and the important point is that any accelera-
tion of the head that stimulates these canals will cause
reflex movements of the eyes; thus, acceleration of the
head to the right causes a movement of the eyes to
the left, the function of the reflex being to enable the eyes
to maintain steady fixation of an object despite move-
ments of the head. The reflex occurs even when the eyes
are shut, and, when the eyes are open, it obviously cooper-
ates with the fixation reflex in maintaining steady fixation.
In many lower animals this connection between organs of
balance and eyes is very rigid; thus, one may move the tail
of a fish, and its eyes will move reflexly. In humans, in addi-
tion to the semicircular canals, the gravity organ—the
62
utricle—and the stretch receptors in the muscles of the

neck also function in close relation to the eye muscles.
Thus, when the head is turned upward, there is a reflex
tendency for the eyes to move downward, even if the eyes
are shut. The actual movement is probably initiated by the
reflex from the semicircular canals, which respond to
acceleration, but the maintenance of the position is
brought about by a reflex through the stretch of the neck
muscles and also through the pull of gravity on the utricle,
or otolith organ, in the inner ear.
Voluntary Centre
The eyes are under voluntary control, and it is thought
that the cortical area subserving voluntary eye movements
is in the frontal cortex. Stimulation of this in primates
causes movements of the eyes that are well coordinated,
and a movement induced by this region prevails over one
induced by stimulation of the occipital cortex. The exis-
tence of a separate centre in humans is revealed by certain
neurological disorders in which the subject is unable to
fixate voluntarily but can do so reflexly.
Nature of Eye Movements

By the use of refined methods of measuring the position
of the eyes at any moment, it becomes immediately evi-
dent that the eyes are never stationary for more than a
fraction of a second; the movements are of three types: (1)
irregular movements of high frequency (30–70 per sec-
ond) and small excursions of about 20 seconds of arc; (2)
flicks, or saccades, of several minutes of arc occurring at
regular intervals of about one second; and between these
saccades there occur (3) slow irregular drifts extending
up to six minutes of arc. The saccades are corrective,
63
serving to bring the fixation axis on the point of regard

after this has drifted away from it too far, and thus are a
manifestation of the fixation reflex.
The significance of these small movements during fix-
ation was revealed by studies on the stabilized retinal
image: by a suitable optical device the image of an object
could be held stationary on the retina in spite of the move-
ments of the eye. It was found that under these conditions
the image would disappear within a few seconds. Thus, the
movements of the eye are apparently necessary to allow
the contours of the image to fall on a new set of rods and
cones at repeated intervals; if this does not occur, the ret-
ina adapts to their stimulus and ceases to send messages to
the central nervous system.
Small flicks are essentially the same as the larger move-
ment made when the two eyes fixate (fix on) a light when
it suddenly appears in the peripheral field; this is given the
general name of saccade, to distinguish it from the slower
movements occurring during convergence and smooth
following. Saccades may involve the eyes alone or, more
commonly, the eyes and the head. Their function is to
place the fovea, the central region of the retina where
vision is most acute, onto the images of parts of the visual
scene of interest. Their duration and peak velocity vary
systematically with their size. The smallest “microsac-
cades” move the eye through only a few minutes of arc
(one minute of arc equals one-sixtieth of one degree).
They last about 20 milliseconds and have maximum veloc-
ities of about 10° per second. The largest saccades
(excluding the contributions of head movements) can be
up to 100°, with a duration of up to 300 milliseconds and a
maximum velocity of about 500–700° per second.
During saccades, vision is seriously impaired for two
reasons. First, during large saccades, the image is moving
so fast that it is blurred and unusable. Second, an active
64
blanking-off process, known as saccadic suppression,

occurs, and this blocks vision for the first part of each sac-
cade. Between saccades, the eyes are held stationary in
fixations. It is during these periods, which last on average
about 190 milliseconds, that the eyes take in visual infor-
mation. Saccades can be reflexive in nature; for example,
when an object appears in one’s peripheral field of view.
However, as Russian psychologist Alfred L. Yarbus
showed, saccades are often information-seeking in nature,
directed to particular objects or regions by the require-
ments of ongoing behaviour.
A remarkable feature of saccades is the apparent
absence of significant inertia in the eyeball, so that move-
ment is halted, not by any checking action of antagonistic
muscles but simply by cessation of contraction of the ago-
nists. Once under way, the saccade is determined in
amount, so that the subject cannot voluntarily alter its
direction and extent. The control mechanism for the
saccadic type of movement can be described as a sam-
pled data system, i.e., the brain makes discontinuous
samples of the position of the eyes in relation to the target
and corrects the error, in contrast to a continuous feed-
back system that takes account of the error all the time.
The movements of the eyes when they converge onto
a near object are in remarkable contrast to the saccade;
the angular velocity is only about 25° per second, compared
with values as high as 700° per second in the saccade. The
great difference in speed between the two movements is
believed to be the result of their being under the control
of different muscle fibres. The extraocular muscles con-
tain two types of muscle fibre, slow and fast, which are
innervated by different nerve supplies. Because these
nerves control different types of muscle movement, they
enable the extraocular muscle to twitch rapidly or to
contract slowly.
65
If a moving light suddenly appears in the field of view,

and if its rate of movement is less than about 30° per sec-
ond, the response of the eyes is remarkably efficient; a
saccade brings the eyes on target, and they follow the
motion at almost exactly the same angular velocity as that
of the target; inaccuracies in following lead to corrective
saccades. When the rate of movement of the target is
greater than about 30° per second, these corrective sac-
cades become more obvious because now smooth
following is not possible; the eyes make constant-velocity
movements, but the velocity rarely matches that of the
moving target, so that there must be frequent corrective
saccades. Studies have shown that the following move-
ments are highly integrated and must involve a continuous
feedback system whereby errors are used to modify the
performance. Thus, the systems for control of saccades
and tracking movements are fundamentally different.
Work of the lens system
Refraction
The optical system of the eye is such as to produce a
reduced inverted image of the visual field on the retina;
the system behaves as a convex lens but is, in fact, much
more complex, refraction taking place not at two surfaces,
as in a lens, but at four separate surfaces—at the anterior
and the posterior surfaces of the cornea and of the crys-
talline lens. Each of these surfaces is approximately
spherical, and at each optical interface—e.g., between air
and the anterior surface of the cornea—the bending of a
ray of light is toward the axis, so that, in effect, there are
four surfaces tending to make rays of light converge on
each other. If the rays of light falling on the cornea are
66
parallel—i.e., if they come from a distant point—the net

effect of this series of refractions at the four surfaces is to
bring these rays to a point, enabling the optical system to
focus. In the normal (or emmetropic) eye, the region
where the rays of light converge to a point corresponds
with the retina.
The greatest change of direction, or bending of the
rays, occurs where the difference of refractive index is
greatest, and this is when light passes from air into the
cornea, the refractive index of the corneal substance being
1.3376; the refractive indices of the cornea and aqueous
humour are not greatly different, that of the
aqueous humour being 1.336 (as is that of the vitreous);
thus, the bending, as the rays meet the concave posterior
surface of the cornea and emerge into a medium of slightly
less refractive index, is small. The lens has a greater refrac-
tive index than that of its surrounding aqueous humour
and vitreous body, 1.386 to 1.406, so that its two surfaces
contribute to convergence, the posterior surface normally
more than the anterior surface because of its greater cur-
vature (smaller radius).
A double convex lens, or converging lens, focuses the diverging, or blurred,

light rays from a distant object by refracting (bending) the rays twice. At the
front side of the lens, the rays are bent toward the normal (the perpendicular
to the surface) because the glass is a denser medium than the air, and, at the
back side of the lens, the rays are bent away from the normal as the rays pass
into the less-dense medium of the air. This double bending causes the rays to
converge at a focal point behind the lens so that a sharper image can be seen or
photographed. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
67
Focusing
Focusing, also called ocular accommodation, is the ability

of the lens to alter its shape to allow objects to be seen
clearly. In humans, the forward surface of the lens is made
more convex for seeing objects up close. At the same
time, the pupil becomes smaller, and the two eyes turn
inward (i.e., cross or converge) to the point that their gaze
is fixed on the object. The capsule, or envelope enclosing
the lens of the eye, is attached by suspensory ligaments
(called zonular fibres) to the ringlike ciliary muscle that
encircles the lens. The inside diameter of this muscle is
greatest when the muscle is relaxed and smallest when
the muscle is contracted. Thus, when the gaze is fixed on
a distant object, as when a camera is set at infinity, the
ciliary muscle relaxes, the muscle’s inside diameter is
increased, more pull is exerted on the lens by the liga-
ments, and the front surface of the lens is flattened.
When near objects are viewed, the ciliary muscle con-
tracts, the ligaments relax, and the lens, being elastic,
bulges in front and gains more curvature. This increased
curvature enhances the focusing power of the lens and
brings the nearer object to better focus on the retina.
This process, known as accommodation, is controlled by
parasympathetic fibres of the third (oculomotor) cranial
nerve. As a person ages, the lens hardens and slowly loses
its ability to change shape and bring near objects into bet-
ter focus. This condition is called presbyopia and generally
becomes evident after age 40.
Abnormalities of Focus
In contrast to the focussing of the normal eye, in which
the image of the visual field is focussed on the
retina, the image may be focussed in front of the retina
68
(nearsightedness, or myopia), or behind the retina (far-

sightedness or hyperopia). In myopia the vision of distant
objects is not distinct because the image of a distant point
falls within the vitreous and the rays spread out to form a
blur circle on the retina instead of a point. In this condi-
tion the eye is said to have too great dioptric (refractive)
power for its length. When the focus falls behind the ret-
ina, the image of the distant point is again a circle on the
retina; and the farsighted eye is said to have too little
dioptric power.
The important point to appreciate is that emmetro-
pia, or normal sight, requires that the focal power of the
dioptric system be matched to the axial length of the eye;
it certainly is remarkable that emmetropia is indeed the
most common condition when it is appreciated that just
one millimetre of error in the matching of axial length
with focal length would cause a person to require visual
correction with contact lenses or eyeglasses. In general,
however, the effects of variations in dimensions tend to
compensate each other. Thus, for example, an unusually
large eye might, at first thought, be expected to be myo-
pic, but a large eye tends to be associated with a large
radius of curvature of the cornea, and this would reduce
the power—i.e., increase the focal length—and so an
unusually large eye is not necessarily a myopic one.
Accommodation
The image of an object brought close to the eye would be
formed behind the retina if there were no change in the
focal length of the eye. This change to bring the image of
an object upon the retina is called accommodation. The
point nearer than which accommodation is no longer
effective is called the near point of accommodation. In
very young people, the near point of accommodation is
69
quite close to the eye, namely about 7 cm (about 3 inches)

in front at age 10; at age 40 the distance has increased to
about 16 cm (about 6 inches), and at age 60 it can be as
distant as 100 cm (39 inches). Thus, a 60-year-old may not
be able to read a book held at the convenient distance of
about 40 cm (16 inches), and the extra power required
would have to be provided by convex lenses in front of the
eye, an arrangement called the presbyopic correction.
Mechanism of Accommodation
It is essentially an increase in curvature of the anterior
surface of the lens that is responsible for the increase in
power involved in the process of accommodation. A clue
to the way in which this change in shape takes place is
given by the observation that a lens that has been taken
out of the eye is much rounder and fatter than one within
the eye; thus, its attachments by the zonular fibres to the
ciliary muscle within the eye preserve the unaccommo-
dated or flattened state of the lens; and modern
investigations leave little doubt that it is the pull of the
zonular fibres on the elastic capsule of the lens that holds
the anterior surface relatively flat. When these zonular
fibres are loosened, the elastic tension in the capsule
comes into play and remolds the lens, making it smaller
and thicker. Thus, the physiological problem is to find
what loosens the zonular fibres during accommodation.
The contraction of the fibres of the ciliary muscle
function to pull the whole ciliary body forward and to
move the anterior region toward the axis of the eye by vir-
tue of the sphincter action of the circular fibres. Both of
these actions will slacken the zonular fibres and therefore
allow the change in shape. As to why it is the anterior sur-
face that changes most is not absolutely clear, but it is
probably a characteristic of the capsule rather than of the
underlying lens tissue.
70
Nerve Action of Accommodation
Accommodation is an involuntary reflex act, and the cili-

ary muscle belongs to the smooth involuntary class.
Appropriate to this, the innervation is through the auto-
nomic system, the parasympathetic nerve cells belonging
to the oculomotor nerve (the third cranial nerve) occupy-
ing a special region of the nucleus in the midbrain called
the Edinger-Westphal nucleus; the fibres have a relay point
in the ciliary ganglion in the eye socket, and the postgan-
glionic fibres enter the eye as the short ciliary nerves. The
stimulus for accommodation is the nearness of the object,
but the manner in which this nearness is translated into a
stimulus is not clear. Thus, the fact that the image is
blurred is not sufficient to induce accommodation; the
eye has some power of discriminating whether the blurred-
ness is due to an object being too far away or too close, so
that something more than mere blurredness is required.
Pupil Response
The amount of light entering the eye is restricted by the

aperture in the iris, the pupil. When a person is in a dark
room his or her pupil is large, perhaps 8 mm (0.3 inch) in
diameter, or more. When the room is lighted there is an
immediate constriction of the pupil, the light reflex; this is
bilateral, so that even if only one eye is exposed to the light
both pupils contract to nearly the same extent. After a
time the pupils expand even though the bright light is
maintained, but the expansion is not large. The final state
is determined by the actual degree of illumination; if this is
high, then the final state may be a diameter of only about 3
to 4 mm (about 0.15 inch); if it is not so high, then the ini-
tial constriction may be nearly the same, but the final state
may be with a pupil of 4 to 5 mm (about 0.18 inch). During
71
This diagram shows pupils before and after they are dilated. National Eye
Institute, National Institutes of Health
this steady condition, the pupils do not remain at exactly

constant size; there is a characteristic oscillation in size
that, if exaggerated, is called hippus.
A pupillary constriction will also occur when a person
looks at a near object—the near reflex. Thus, accommoda-
tion and pupillary constriction occur together reflexly and
are excited by the same stimulus. The function of the pupil
is clearly that of controlling the amount of light entering
the eye, and hence the light reflex. The constriction occur-
ring during near vision suggests other functions, too; thus,
the aberrations of the eye (failure of some refracted rays to
focus on the retina) are decreased by reducing the aper-
ture of its optical system. In the dark, aberrations are of
negligible significance, so that a person is concerned only
72
with allowing as much light into the eye as possible; in

bright light high visual acuity is usually required, and this
means reducing the aberrations. The depth of focus of the
optical system is increased when the aperture is reduced,
and the near reflex is probably concerned with increasing
depth of focus under these conditions.
Dilation of the pupil occurs as a result of strong psy-
chical stimuli and also when any sensory nerve is
stimulated; dilation thus occurs in extreme fear and in
pain. Dilation is brought about by the shortening of the
radially oriented fibres of the dilator muscle of the iris.
The dilator muscle is activated by sympathetic nerve
fibres. Stimulation of the sympathetic nerve in the neck
causes a powerful dilation of the iris; the influx of adrena-
lin into the blood from the adrenal glands during extreme
excitement results in pupillary dilation.
The muscle fibres that form the circular sphincter
muscle of the iris function to constrict the pupil and work
by shortening; this action reduces the size of the aperture
and thereby restricts the amount of light entering the eye.
The sphincter is innervated by parasympathetic fibres of
the oculomotor nerve, with their cell bodies in the Edinger-
Westphal nucleus, as are the nerve cells controlling
accommodation; thus, the close association between the
accommodation and pupillary reflexes is reflected in a
close anatomical contiguity of their motor nerve cells.
The sensory pathway in the light reflex involves the
rods and cones, bipolar cells, and ganglion cells. A relay
centre for pupillary responses to light is the pretectal
nucleus in the midbrain. There is a partial crossing-over
of the fibres of the pretectal nerve cells so that some may
run to the motor nerve cells in the Edinger-Westphal
nucleus of both sides of the brain, and it is by this means
that illumination of one eye affects the other. The
73
Edinger-Westphal motor neurons have a relay point in

the ciliary ganglion, a group of nerve cells in the eye
socket, so that its electrical stimulation causes both
accommodation and pupillary constriction; similarly,
application of a drug, such as pilocarpine, to the cornea
will cause a constriction of the pupil and also a spasm of
accommodation; atropine, by paralyzing the nerve sup-
ply, causes dilation of the pupil and paralysis of
accommodation (cycloplegia).
Many involuntary muscles receive a double innerva-
tion, being activated by one type of nerve supply and
inhibited by the other; the iris muscles are no exception—
the sphincter has an inhibitory sympathetic nerve supply,
while the dilator has an inhibitory parasympathetic (cho-
linergic) nerve supply. Thus, a drug like pilocarpine not
only activates the constrictor muscle but actively inhibits
the dilator. A similar double innervation has been
described for the ciliary muscle. In general, any change in
pupillary size results from a reciprocal innervation of dila-
tor and constrictor; thus, activation of the constrictor is
associated with inhibition of the dilator and vice versa.
In general, pupillary constriction and accommodation
occur together, in response to the same stimulus; a third
element in this near response is, of course, the conver-
gence (turning in) of the eyes, mediated by voluntary
muscles, the medial recti. Experimentally, it is often pos-
sible to separate these activities, in the sense that one may
cause convergence without accommodation by placing
appropriate prisms in front of the eyes; or one may cause
accommodation without convergence by placing diverg-
ing lenses in front of the eyes. There are many experiments
that show that accommodation and convergence are neu-
rologically linked to some extent, however.
74
CHAPTER3
VISION AND THE
RETINA
T he retina is fundamental to vision. It contains mil-
lions of light-sensitive photoreceptors that are
essential to the perception of visual information. The
photoreceptors of the human eye are assembled into com-
plex networks of neurons that serve to organize incoming
visual information into messages that can be interpreted
by the brain.
In the retina, as in other parts of the nervous system,
the messages initiated in one element are transmitted, or
relayed, to others. The regions of transmission from one
cell to another are areas of intimate contact known as syn-
apses. An impulse conveyed from one cell to another
travels from the first cell body along a projection called an
axon, to a synapse, where the impulse is received by a pro-
jection, called a dendrite, of the second cell. The impulse
is then conveyed to the second cell body, to be transmitted
further, along the second cell’s axon. Impulses are eventu-
ally transmitted to the optic nerve, which in turn carries
the impulses to the visual centres of the brain. In this way,
through the systematic transmission of electrical impulses
along neurons, the information received by the retina is
converted into a meaningful image.
neurOn neTWOrks
Of The reTina
The functioning cells of the retina include the photore-

ceptors—the rods and cones; the ganglion cells, the axons
75
A diagram of the structure of the retina. Conditions affecting the retina can
impair both central visual acuity and peripheral vision as well as alter light
detection and image perception. Copyright Encyclopaedia Britannica;
rendering for this edition by Rosen Educational Services.
76
7 Vision and the Retina 7
of which form the optic nerve; and cells that act in a vari-
ety of ways as intermediaries between the receptors and
the ganglion cells. These intermediaries are named bipolar
cells, horizontal cells, and amacrine cells.
The synapses between these cells occur in definite lay-
ers, the outer and inner plexiform layers. In the outer
plexiform layer the bipolar cells make their contacts, by
way of their dendrites, with the rods and cones, specifi-
cally the spherules of the rods and the pedicles of the
cones. In this layer, too, the projections from horizontal
cells make contacts with rods, cones, and bipolar cells, giv-
ing rise to a horizontal transmission and thereby allowing
activity in one part of the retina to influence the behav-
iour of a neighbouring part. In the inner plexiform layer,
the axons of the bipolar cells make connection with the
dendrites of ganglion cells, once again at special synaptic
regions. (The dendrites of a nerve cell carry impulses to
the nerve cell body; its axon, away from the cell body.)
Here, too, a horizontal interconnection between bipolar
cells is brought about, in this case by way of the axons and
dendrites of amacrine cells.
The bipolar cells are of two main types: namely, those
that apparently make connection with only one recep-
tor—a cone—and those that connect to several receptors.
The type of bipolar cell that connects to a single cone is
called the midget bipolar. The other type of bipolar cell
is called diffuse; varieties of these include the rod bipo-
lar, the dendritic projections of which spread over an
area wide enough to allow contacts with as many as 50
rods; and the flat cone bipolar, which collects messages
from up to seven cones. Ganglion cells are of two main
types: namely, the midget ganglion cell, which apparently
makes a unique connection with a midget bipolar cell,
which in turn is directly connected to a single cone; and
77
a diffuse type, which collects messages from groups of

bipolar cells.
The presence of diffuse bipolar and ganglion cells col-
lecting messages from groups of receptors and bipolar
cells, and, what may be even more important, the pres-
ence of lateral connections of groups of receptors and
bipolar cells through the horizontal and amacrine cells,
means that messages from receptors over a rather large
area of the retina may converge on a single ganglion cell.
This convergence means that the effects of light falling
on the receptive field may be cumulative, so that a weak
light stimulus spread over about 1,000 rods is just as
effective as a stronger stimulus spread over 100 or less; in
other words, a large receptive field will have a lower
threshold than a small one; and this is, in fact, the basis
for the high sensitivity of the area immediately outside
the fovea, where there is a high density of rods that con-
verge on single bipolar cells. Thus, if it is postulated that
the cones do not converge to anything like the same
extent as the rods, the greater sensitivity of the latter
may be explained; and the anatomical evidence favours
this postulate.
The regeneration of visual pigment is a cause of the
increased sensitivity of the rods that occurs during dark
adaptation. This, apparently, is only part of the story.
An important additional factor is the change in func-
tional organization of the retina during adaptation.
When the eye is light-adapted, functional convergence
is small, and sensitivity of rods and cones is low; as dark
adaptation proceeds, convergence of rods increases.
The anatomical connections do not change, but the
power of the bipolar cells and ganglion cells to collect
impulses is increased, perhaps by the removal of an
inhibition that prevents this during high illumination
of the retina.
78
The work of the retina

The structure of the retina and its relation to chemically
identifiable events provides some indication of the work
that the retina must perform in order for image genera-
tion to be successful. Factors such as threshold stimulus,
dark adaptation, and bleaching affect the electrophysio-
logical response of the retina to light and thus ultimately
impact the relay of visual messages to the brain.
Threshold of Light Detection

An important means of measuring a sensation is to deter-
mine the threshold stimulus—i.e., the minimum energy
required to evoke the sensation. In the case of vision, this
would be the minimum number of quanta of light entering
the eye in unit time. If it is found that the threshold has
altered because of a change of some sort, then this change
can be said to have altered the subject’s sensitivity to light,
and a numerical value can be assigned to the sensitivity by
use of the reciprocal of the threshold energy.
Practically, a subject may be placed in the dark in front
of a white screen, and the screen may be illuminated by
flashes of light; for any given intensity of illumination of
the screen, it is not difficult to calculate the flow of light
energy entering the eye. One may begin with a low inten-
sity of flash and increase this successively until the subject
reports that he or she can see the flash. In fact, at this
threshold level, the subject will not see every flash pre-
sented, even though the intensity of the light is kept
constant; for this reason, a certain frequency of seeing—
e.g., four times out of six—must be selected as the arbitrary
point at which to fix the threshold.
When different wavelengths of light are employed for
measuring the threshold, it is found that the eye is much
79
more sensitive to blue-green light than to orange. The

interesting feature of this kind of study is that the subject
reports only that the light is light; he or she distinguishes
no colour. If the intensity of a given wavelength of light is
increased step by step above the threshold, a point comes
when the subject states that it is coloured, and the differ-
ence between the threshold for light appreciation and
this, the chromatic threshold, is called the photochro-
matic interval. This suggests that the rods give only
achromatic, or colourless, vision, and that it is the cones
that permit wavelength discrimination. The photochro-
matic interval for long wavelengths (red light) is about
zero, which means that the intensity required to reach the
sensation of light is the same as that to reach the sensation
of colour. This is because the rods are so insensitive to red
light; if the dark-adaptation curve is plotted for a red stim-
ulus it is found that it follows the cone path, like that for
foveal vision at all wavelengths.
Dark Adaptation
The threshold for light detection falls progressively over
the course of minutes when a person keeps his or her eyes
open in a dark room. This is not due to dilation of the
pupil because the same phenomenon occurs if the person
is made to look through an artificial pupil of fixed diame-
ter. The eye, after about 30 minutes in the dark, may
become about 10,000 times more sensitive to light. Vision
under these conditions is, moreover, characteristically dif-
ferent from what it is under ordinary daylight conditions.
Thus, in studies in which a subject is placed in a dark room
in front of a screen illuminated by flashes, the eye obtains
its best vision when looking away from the screen so that
the image of the screen does not fall on the fovea; if the
screen is continuously illuminated at around this
80
threshold level it will be found to disappear if its image is

brought onto the fovea, and it will become immediately
visible on looking away. The same phenomenon may be
demonstrated on a moonless night if the gaze is fixed on a
dim star; it disappears on fixation and reappears on look-
ing away. This feature of vision under these near-threshold
or scotopic (dark-adapted) conditions suggests that the
cones are effectively blind to weak light stimuli, since they
are the only receptors in the fovea. This is the basis of the
duplicity theory of vision, which postulates that when
the light stimulus is weak and the eye has been dark-
adapted, it is the rods that are utilized because, under
these conditions, their threshold is much lower than that
of the cones. When the subject first enters the dark, the
rods are the less sensitive type of receptor, and the thresh-
old stimulus is the light energy required to stimulate the
cones; during the first five or more minutes the threshold
of the cones decreases; i.e., they become more sensitive.
The rods then increase their sensitivity to the point that
they are the more sensitive, and it is they that now deter-
mine the sensitivity of the whole eye, the threshold stimuli
obtained after 10 minutes in the dark, for example, being
too weak to activate the cones.
If, when the subject has become completely dark-
adapted, one eye is held shut and the other exposed to a
bright light for a little while, it is found that, whereas the
dark-adapted eye retains its high sensitivity, that of
the light-exposed eye has decreased greatly; it requires
another period of dark adaptation for the two eyes to
become equally sensitive.
These simple experiments pose several problems, the
answers to which throw a great deal of light on the whole
mechanism of vision. Why, for example, does it require
time for both rods and cones to reach their maximum sen-
sitivity in the dark? Again, why is visual acuity so low under
81
dark-adapted conditions compared with that in daylight,

although sensitivity to light is so high? Finally, why do the
rods not serve to discriminate different wavelengths?
Bleaching
It may be assumed that a receptor is sensitive to light
because it contains a substance that absorbs light and con-
verts this vibrational type of energy into some other form
that is eventually transmuted into electrical changes,
and that these may be transmitted from the receptor to
the bipolar cell with which it is immediately connected.
When the retina of a dark-adapted animal is removed and
submitted to extraction procedures, a pigment, originally
called visual purple but now called rhodopsin, may be
obtained. If the eye is exposed to a bright light for some
time before extraction, little or no rhodopsin is obtained.
When retinas from animals that had been progres-
sively dark-adapted were studied, a gradual increase in the
amount of rhodopsin that could be extracted was observed.
Thus, rhodopsin, on absorption of light energy, is changed
to some other compound, but new rhodopsin is formed,
or rhodopsin is regenerated, during dark adaptation. The
obvious inference is that rhodopsin is the visual pigment
of the rods, and that when it is exposed to relatively intense
lights it becomes useless for vision. When the eye is
allowed to remain in the dark the rhodopsin regenerates
and thus becomes available for vision. There is conclusive
proof that rhodopsin is, indeed, the visual pigment for the
rods; it is obtained from retinas that have only rods and no
cones—e.g., the retinas of the rat or guinea pig, and it is
not obtained from the pure cone retina of the chicken.
When the absorption spectrum is measured, it is found
that its maximum absorption occurs at the point of
maximum sensitivity of the dark-adapted eye. Similar
82
measurements may be carried out on animals, but the

threshold sensitivity must be determined by some objec-
tive means—e.g., the response of the pupil, or, better still,
the electrical changes occurring in the retina in response
to light stimuli. Thus, the electroretinogram (ERG) is the
record of changes in potential between an electrode placed
on the surface of the cornea and an electrode placed on
another part of the body, caused by illumination of the eye.
The high sensitivity of the rods by comparison with
the cones may be a reflection of the greater concentration
in them of pigment that would permit them to catch light
more efficiently, or it may depend on other factors—e.g.,
the efficiency of transformation of the light energy into
electrical energy. An important factor, so far as sensitivity
is concerned, is the actual organization of the receptors
and neurons in the retina.
Minimum Stimulus for Vision

The minimum threshold for vision is best indicated in
terms of frequency of seeing since, because of fluctuations
in the threshold, there is no definite luminance (bright-
ness of light) of a test screen at which it is always seen by
the observer, and there is no luminance just below this at
which it is never seen. Experiments, in which 60 percent
was arbitrarily taken as the frequency of seeing and in
which the image of a patch of light covered an area of ret-
ina containing about 20,000,000 rods, led to the
calculation that the mean threshold stimulus represents
2,500 quanta of light that is actually absorbed per square
centimetre of retina. This calculation leads to two impor-
tant conclusions: namely, that at the threshold only one
rod out of thousands comes into operation, and that dur-
ing the application of a short stimulus the chances are that
no rod receives more than a single quantum.
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A quantum, defined as the product of Planck’s con-

stant (6.63 × 10 -27 erg-second) times the frequency of light,
is the minimum amount of light energy that can be
employed. A rod excited by a single quantum cannot excite
a bipolar cell without the simultaneous assistance of one
or more other rods. Experiments carried out in the 1940s
indicated that a stimulus of about 11 quanta is required;
thus it may require 11 excited rods, each receiving one
quantum of light, to produce the sensation of light.
Quantum Fluctuations
With such small amounts of energy as those involved in
the threshold stimulus, the uncertainty principle becomes
important; according to this, there is no certainty that a
given flash will have the expected number of quanta in it,
but only a probability. Thus, one may speak of a certain
average number of quanta and the actual number in any
given flash, and one may compute on statistical grounds
the shape of curve that is obtained by plotting frequency
with which a flash contains, say, four quanta or more
against the average number in the flash. One may also
plot the frequency with which a flash is seen against the
average number of quanta in the flash, and this frequency-
of-seeing curve turns out to be similar to the
frequency-of-containing-quanta curve when the number
of quanta chosen is five to seven, depending on the
observer. This congruence strongly suggests that the fluc-
tuations in response to a flash of the same average
intensity are caused by fluctuations in the energy con-
tent of the stimulus, and not by fluctuations in the
sensitivity of the retina.
Spatial Summation
In spatial summation two stimuli falling on nearby areas
of the retina add their effects so that either alone may be
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inadequate to evoke the sensation of light, but, when pre-

sented simultaneously, they may do so. Thus, the threshold
luminance of a test patch required to be just visible
depends, within limits, on its size, a larger patch requiring
a lower luminance, and vice versa. Within a small range of
limiting area, namely that subtending about 10 to 15 min-
utes of arc, the relationship called Ricco’s law holds; i.e.,
threshold intensity multiplied by the area equals a con-
stant. This means that over this area, which embraces
several hundreds of rods, light falling on the individual
rods summates, or accumulates, its effects completely so
that 100 quanta falling on a single rod are as effective as
one quantum falling simultaneously on 100 rods. The
basis for this summation is clearly the convergence of
receptors on ganglion cells, the chemical effects of the
quanta of light falling on individual rods being converted
into electrical changes that converge on a single bipolar
cell through its branching dendritic processes. Again, the
electrical effects induced in the bipolar cells may sum-
mate at the dendritic processes of a ganglion cell so that
the receptive field of a ganglion cell may embrace many
thousands of rods.
Temporal Summation
In temporal summation, two stimuli, each being too weak
to excite, cause a sensation of light if presented in rapid
succession on the same spot of the retina; thus, over a cer-
tain range of times, up to 0.1 second, the Bunsen-Roscoe
law holds: namely, that the intensity of light multiplied by
the time of exposure equals a constant. Thus it was found
that within this time interval (up to 0.1 second), the total
number of quanta required to excite vision was 130, irre-
spective of the manner in which these were supplied.
Beyond this time, summation was still evident, but it was
not perfect, so that if the duration was increased to one
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second the total number of quanta required was 220.

Temporal summation is consistent with quantum theory;
it has been shown that fluctuations in the number of
quanta actually in a light flash are responsible for the vari-
able responsiveness of the eye; increasing the duration of
a light stimulus increases the probability that it will con-
tain a given number of quanta, and that it will excite.
Inhibition
In the central nervous system generally, the relay of
impulses from one nerve cell or neuron to excite another
is only one aspect of neuronal interaction. Just as impor-
tant, if not more so, is the inhibition of one neuron by the
discharge in another. So it is in the retina. Subjectively,
the inhibitory activity is reflected in many of the phe-
nomena associated with adaptation to light or its reverse.
Thus, the decrease in sensitivity of the retina to light dur-
ing exposure to light is only partially accounted for by
bleaching of visual pigment, be it the pigment in rod or
cone; an important factor is the onset of inhibitory pro-
cesses that reduce the convergence of receptors on
ganglion cells. Some of the rapidly occurring changes in
sensitivity described as alpha adaptation are doubtless
purely neural in origin.
Many so-called inductive phenomena indicate inhibi-
tory processes; thus, the phenomenon of simultaneous
contrast, whereby a patch of light appears much darker if
surrounded by a bright background than by a black, is due
to the inhibitory effect of the surrounding retina on the
central region, induced by the bright surrounding. Many
colour-contrast phenomena are similarly caused; thus, if a
blue light is projected onto a large white screen, the white
screen rapidly appears yellow; the blue stimulus falling on
the central retina causes inhibition of blue sensitivity in
86
the periphery; hence, the white background will appear to

be missing its blue light—white minus blue is a mixture of
red and green, which appears as yellow to the retina.
Particularly interesting from this viewpoint are the phe-
nomena of metacontrast; by this is meant the inductive
effect of a primary light stimulus on the sensitivity of the
eye to a previously presented light stimulus on an adjoin-
ing area of retina. It is a combination of temporal and
spatial induction. The effect is produced by illuminating
the two halves of a circular patch consecutively for a brief
duration. If the left half only, for example, is illuminated
for 10 milliseconds it produces a definite sensation of
brightness. If both halves are illuminated for the same
period, but the right half from 20 to 50 milliseconds later,
the left half of the field appears much darker than before
and, near the centre, may be completely extinguished. The
left field has thus been inhibited by the succeeding, nearby,
stimulus. The right field, moreover, appears darker than
when illuminated alone—it has been inhibited by the ear-
lier stimulus (paracontrast).
Flicker
Another visual phenomenon that brings out the impor-
tance of inhibition is the sensation evoked when a visual
stimulus is repeated rapidly; for example, one may view a
screen that is illuminated by a source of light the rays from
which may be intercepted at regular intervals by rotating
a sector of a circular screen in front of it. If the sector
rotates slowly, a sensation of black followed by white is
aroused; as the speed increases the sensation becomes
one of flicker—i.e., rapid fluctuations in brightness; finally,
at a certain speed, called the critical fusion frequency, the
sensation becomes continuous and the subject is unaware
of the alterations in the illumination of the screen.
87
At high levels of luminance, when cone vision is

employed, the fusion frequency is high, increasing with
increasing luminance in a logarithmic fashion—the Ferry-
Porter law—so that at high levels it may require 60 flashes
per second to reach a continuous sensation. Under con-
ditions of night, or scotopic, vision, the frequencies
may be as low as four per second. The difference
between rod and cone vision in this respect probably
resides in the power of the eye to inhibit activity in
cones rapidly, so that the sensation evoked by a single
flash is cut off immediately, and this leaves the eye ready
to respond to the next stimulus. By contrast, the
response in the rod lasts so much longer that, when a
new stimulus falls even a quarter of a second later, the
difference in the state of the rods is insufficient to
evoke a change in intensity of sensation; it merely
prolongs it.
One interesting feature of an intermittent stimulus is
that the intensity of the sensation of brightness, when
fusion is achieved, is dependent on the relative periods of
light and darkness in the cycle, and this gives one a
method of grading the effective luminance of a screen;
one may keep the intensity of the illuminating source
constant and merely vary the period of blackness in a
cycle of black and white. The effective luminance will be
the average luminance during a cycle; this is known as the
Talbot-Plateau law.
Visual Acuity
The ability to perceive detail is restricted in the dark-
adapted retina when the illumination is such as to
excite only the scotopic type of vision; this is in spite of
the high sensitivity of the retina to light under the same
88
conditions. The power of distinguishing detail is essen-

tially the power to resolve two stimuli separated in space,
so that, if a grating of black lines on a white background
is moved farther and farther away from an observer, a
point is reached when he or she will be unable to distin-
guish this stimulus pattern from a uniformly gray sheet
of paper.
The angle subtended at the eye by the spacing between
the lines at the point where they are just resolvable is called
the resolving power of the eye; the reciprocal of this angle, in
minutes of arc, is called the visual acuity. Thus, a visual acuity
of unity indicates a power of resolving detail subtending one
minute of arc at the eye; a visual acuity of two indicates a
resolution of one-half minute, or 30 seconds of arc. The
visual acuity depends strongly on the illumination of the test
target, and this is true of both daylight (photopic) and night
(scotopic) vision; thus, with a brightly illuminated target,
with the surroundings equally brightly illuminated (the ideal
condition), the visual acuity may be as high as two. When
the illumination is reduced, the acuity falls so that, under
ordinary conditions of daylight viewing, visual acuity is
not much better than unity. Under scotopic conditions,
the visual acuity may be only 0.04 so that lines would have
to subtend about 25 minutes at the eye to be resolvable;
this corresponds to a thickness of 4.4 cm (1.7 inches) at a
distance of 6 metres (20 feet).
In the laboratory, visual acuity is measured by the
Landolt C, which is a circle with a break in it. The subject
is asked to state where the break is when the figure is
rotated to successive random positions. The size of the C,
and thus of its break, is reduced until the subject makes
more than an arbitrarily chosen percentage of mistakes.
The angle subtended at the eye by the break in the C at
this limit is taken as the resolving power of the eye. The
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Doctors use the Snellen eye chart to check vision. Shutterstock.com
90
testing of the eyes by the ophthalmologist or optometrist

is essentially a determination of visual acuity; here the
subject is presented with the Snellen chart, rows of letters
whose details subtend progressively smaller angles at the
eye. The row in which, say, five out of six letters are seen
correctly is chosen as that which measures the visual acu-
ity. If the details subtended one minute of arc, the visual
acuity would be unity. The notation employed is some-
what obscure; a visual acuity of unity would be expressed
as 6/6; an acuity of a half as 6/12, and so on; here the
numerator is the viewing distance in metres from
the chart and the denominator the distance at which
details on the letters of the limiting row subtend one
minute of arc at the eye.
Retinal Design and Visual Acuity

From an anatomical point of view one may expect the
limit to resolving power to be imposed by the “grain” of
the retinal mosaic in the same way that the size of the
grains in a photographic emulsion imposes a limit to
the accuracy with which detail may be photographed. Two
white lines on a black ground, for example, could not be
appreciated as distinct if their images fell on the same or
adjacent sets of receptors. If a set of receptors intervened
between the stimulated ones, there would be a basis for
discrimination because the message sent to the central
nervous system could be that two rows of receptors, sepa-
rated by an unstimulated row, were sending messages to
their bipolar cells. Thus, the limit to resolution, on this
basis, should be the diameter of a foveal cone, or rather
the angle subtended by this at the nodal point of the eye;
this is about 30 seconds of arc and, in fact, corresponds
with the best visual acuity attainable. If this grain of the
retinal mosaic is to be the basis of resolution, however,
one must postulate, in addition, a nervous mechanism
91
that will transmit accurately the events taking place in the

individual receptors, in this case the foveal cones; i.e.,
there must be a one-to-one relationship between cones,
bipolar cells, ganglion cells, and lateral geniculate cells so
that what is called the local sign of the impulses from a
given foveal cone may be obtained.
It must be appreciated that restriction on convergence
(or its reverse, spread) of messages may be achieved by
inhibition; the anatomical connections may be there, but
they may be made functionally inoperative by inhibition
exerted by other neurons; thus, the horizontal and ama-
crine cells might well exert a restraining influence on
certain junctions, thereby reducing the spread, or conver-
gence, of messages, and it seems likely that the
improvement in foveal visual acuity from one to two,
brought about by increased luminance of the target and
its surroundings, is achieved by an increase in inhibition
that tends to make transmission one-to-one in the fovea.
True one-to-one connections in the retina do not exist;
a cone, although making an exclusive type of synapse with a
midget bipolar, may also make a less exclusive contact
with a flat bipolar cell; furthermore, midget bipolars and
cones are connected laterally by amacrine and horizontal
cells so that it is most unlikely that a given optic nerve
fibre carries messages from only a single cone. The one-to-
one relationship may in fact exist under certain conditions,
but that is because pathways from other receptors have
been blocked or occluded by inhibitory processes that
keep the line clear for a given cone.
A high sensitivity to light is achieved by the conver-
gence of rods on the higher neurons to allow spatial
summation, and it is this convergence that interferes with
the resolution of detail. If hundreds of rods converge on
a single bipolar cell and if many bipolar cells converge
on a single ganglion cell, it is understandable that the unit
92
responsible for resolution may be very large and thus that

the visual acuity is very small.
The Retinal Image

The limiting factor of visual acuity is one of an anatomical
arrangement of receptors and of their neural organization.
A very important feature, however, must be the accuracy
of the formation of an image of external objects by the
optical system of the eye. It may be calculated, for exam-
ple, that the image of a grating produces lines 0.5
micrometre wide on the retina, but this is on the basis of
ideal geometrical optics; in fact, the optics of the eye are
not perfect, while diffraction of light by its passage
through the pupil further spoils the image. As a result of
these defects, the image of a black and white grating on
the retina is not sharp, the black lines being not com-
pletely black but gray because of spread of light from the
white lines. (When the optical system of the eye is defec-
tive, moreover, as in nearsightedness, the imagery is worse,
but this can be corrected by the use of appropriate lenses.)
Physiologically, the eye effectively improves the reti-
nal image by enhancing contrasts; thus, the image of a fine
black line on a white background formed on the retina is
not a sharply defined black line but a relatively wide band
of varying degrees of grayness; yet to the observer the line
appears sharply defined, and this is because of lateral inhi-
bition, the receptors that receive most light tending to
inhibit those that receive less; the result is a physiological
“sharpening of the image,” so that the eye often behaves as
though the image were perfect. This applies to chromatic
aberration, too, which should cause black and white
objects to appear fringed with colour, yet, because of sup-
pression of the chromatic responses, one is not aware of
the coloured fringes that do in effect surround the images
of objects in the external world.
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The iris behaves as a diaphragm, modifying the amount

of light entering the eye; probably of greater significance
than control of the light entering the eye is the influence
on aberrations of the optical system; the smaller the pupil
the less serious, in general, are the aberrations. The
smaller the pupil, however, the more serious become the
effects of diffraction, so that a balance must be struck.
Experimentally, it is found that at high luminances with
pupils below 3 mm (0.12 inch) in diameter the visual acuity
is not improved by further reduction of the diameter;
increasing the pupil size beyond this reduces acuity, pre-
sumably because of the greater optical aberrations.
When a subject is placed in a room that is darkened
steadily, the size of the pupil increases, and the size
attained for any given level of luminance is, in fact, opti-
mal for visual acuity at this particular luminance. The
reason that visual acuity increases with the larger pupils is
that the extra light admitted into the eye compensates for
the increased aberrations. When the gaze is fixed intently
on an object for a long time, peripheral images that tend
to disappear reappear immediately when the eyes are
moved. This effect is called the Troxler phenomenon. To
study it reproducibly it is necessary to use an optical
device that ensures that the image of any object upon
which the gaze is fixed will remain on the same part of the
retina however the eyes move. Investigations using this
method have revealed that the stabilized retinal image
tends to fade within a few seconds. It may be assumed
that in normal vision the normal involuntary move-
ments—microsaccades and drifts—keep the retinal
image in sufficient movement to prevent fading, which is
essentially an example of sensory adaptation, the ten-
dency for any receptive system to cease responding to a
maintained stimulus.
94
CHAPTER4
ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY
OF THE RETINA
S tudies of the electrophysiological activity of the retina

have provided valuable information about the neuro-
logical organization of the human eye. Because subjective
studies on humans can traverse only a certain distance in
the interpretation of visual phenomena, electrophysiolog-
ical techniques, which have been successful in unravelling
the mechanisms of the central nervous system, must be
applied to the eye. These techniques, which centre on the
use of electrodes to measure electrical impulses of neu-
rons, contributed to a significant expansion in scientists’
knowledge of the neural activity of the human eye in the
20th and early 21st centuries.
neurOlOgical basis
Records from single optic nerve fibres of the frog and

from the ganglion cell of the mammalian retina have indi-
cated that there are three types of neural response. In the
frog there are fibres that give a discharge when a light is
switched on; these are known as the “on-fibres.” Another
group, the “off-fibres,” remain inactive during illumina-
tion of the retina but give a powerful discharge when a
light is switched off. A third group, the “on-off fibres,” give
discharges at “on” and “off ” but are inactive during illumi-
nation. The responses in the mammal are similar, but more
complex than in the frog. The mammalian retina shows a
background of activity in the dark, so that on- and
95
off-effects are manifest as accentuations or diminutions

of this normal discharge. In general, on-elements give an
increased discharge when a light is switched on, and
an inhibition of the background discharge when the light
is switched off. An off-element shows inhibition of the
background discharge during illumination and a powerful
discharge at off; this off-discharge is thus a release of inhi-
bition and reveals unmistakably the inhibitory character
of the response to illumination that takes place in some
ganglion cells. Each ganglion cell or optic nerve fibre has a
receptive field; and the area of frog’s retina from which
a single fibre is activated varies with the intensity of the
light stimulus. The largest field is obtained with the stron-
gest stimulus.
The mammalian receptive field is more complex, the
more peripheral part of the field giving the opposite type
of response to that given by the centre. Thus, if, at the cen-
tre of the field, a response is “on” (an on-centre field), the
response to a stimulus farther away in the same fibre is at
“off,” and in an intermediate zone it is often mixed to give
an on-off element. In order to characterize an element,
therefore, it must be called on-centre or off-centre, with
the meaning thereby that at the centre of its receptive
field its response is at “on” or at “off,” respectively, while in
the periphery it is opposite. Studies of the effects of small
spot stimuli on centre and periphery separately and
together have demonstrated a mutual inhibition between
the two. A striking feature is the effect of adaptation; after
dark adaptation the surrounding area of opposite activity
becomes ineffective. In this sense, therefore, the recep-
tive field shrinks, but, as it is a reduction in inhibitory
activity between centre and periphery, it means, in fact,
that the effective field can actually increase during dark
adaptation—i.e., the regions over which summation can
96
7 Electrophysiology of the Retina 7
occur—and this is exactly what is found in psychophysical

experiments on dark adaptation.
The receptive field is essentially a measure of the num-
ber of receptors—rods or cones or a mixture of these—that
make nervous connections with a single ganglion cell. The
organization of centre and periphery implies that
the receptors in the periphery of an on-centre cell tend
to inhibit it, while those in the centre of the field tend to
excite it, so that the effects of a uniform illumination cov-
ering the whole field tend to cancel out. This has an
important physiological value, as it means, in effect, that
the brain is not bombarded with an enormous number of
unnecessary messages, as would be the case were every
ganglion cell to send discharges along its optic nerve fibre
as long as it was illuminated. Instead, the cell tends to
respond to change—i.e., the movement of a light or dark
spot over the receptive field—and to give an especially
prominent response, often when the spot passes from
the periphery to the centre, or vice versa. Thus, the centre-
periphery organization favours the detection of movement;
in a similar way it favours the detection of contours because
these give rise to differences in the illumination of the parts
of the receptive fields.
The anatomical basis of the arrangement presumably
is given by the organization of the bipolar and amacrine
cells in relation to the dendrites of the ganglion cell; it is
interesting that the actual diameter of the centre of the
receptive field of a ganglion cell is frequently equal to the
area over which its dendrites spread; the periphery
exerts its effects presumably by means of amacrine cells
that are capable of connecting with bipolars over a wide
area. These amacrine cells could exert an inhibitory action
on the bipolar cells connected to the receptors of the
central zone of the field, preventing them from
97
responding to these receptors; in this case, the ganglion

cell related to these bipolars would be of an on-centre
and off-periphery type.
The electroretinogram
If an electrode is placed on the cornea and another, indif-
ferent electrode, placed, for example, in the mouth,
illumination of the retina is followed by a succession of
electrical changes; the record of these is the electroretino-
gram, or ERG. Analysis has shown that the electrode on
the cornea picks up changes in potential occurring succes-
sively at different levels of the retina, so that it is possible
to recognize, for example, the electrical changes occurring
in the rods and cones—the receptor potentials—those
occurring in the horizontal cells, and so on. In general, the
electrical changes caused by the different types of cell
tend to overlap in time, so that the record in the electro-
retinogram is only a faint and attenuated index to the
actual changes; nevertheless, it has, in the past, been a
valuable tool for the analysis of retinal mechanisms. Thus,
the most prominent wave—called the b- wave—is closely
associated with discharge in the optic nerve, so that in
animals, including humans, the height of the b- wave can
be used as an objective measure of the response to light.
Hence, the sensitivity of the dark-adapted frog’s retina to
different wavelengths, as indicated by the heights of the
b- waves, can be plotted against wavelength to give a typi-
cal scotopic sensitivity curve with a maximum at 5000
angstroms (one angstrom = 1 × 10−4 micrometre) corre-
sponding to the maximum for absorption of rhodopsin.
Electrophysiology has been used as a tool for the
examination of the basic mechanism of flicker and fusion.
The classical studies based on the electroretinogram indi-
cated that the important feature that determines fusion in
98
the cone-dominated retina is the inhibition of the retina

caused by each successive light flash, inhibition being
indicated by the a- wave of the electroretinogram. In the
rod-dominated retina—e.g., in humans under scotopic
conditions—the a- wave is not prominent, and fusion
depends simply on the tendency for the excitatory
response to a flash to persist, the inhibitory effects of a
succeeding stimulus being small. More modern methods
of analysis, in which the discharges in single ganglion cells
in response to repeated flashes are measured, have defined
fairly precisely the nature of fusion, which, so far as the
retinal message is concerned, is a condition in which
the record from the ganglion cell becomes identical
with the record observed in the ganglion cell during spon-
taneous discharge during constant illumination.
Resolving power
Although the resolving power of the retina depends on the
size and density of packing of the receptors in the retina,
it is the neural organization of the receptors that deter-
mines whether the brain will be able to make use of this
theoretical resolving power. It is therefore of interest to
examine the responses of retinal ganglion cells to gratings,
either projected as stationary images on to the receptive
field or moved slowly across it. One group of investigators
showed that ganglion cells of the cat differed in sensitivity
to a given grating when the sensitivity was measured by
the degree of contrast between the black and white lines
of the grating necessary to evoke a measurable response
in the ganglion cell. When the lines were made very fine
(i.e., the “grating-frequency” was high), a point was reached
at which the ganglion cell failed to respond, however great
the contrast; this measured the resolving power of the
particular cell being investigated. The interesting feature
99
of this work is that individual ganglion cells had a special

sensitivity to particular grating-frequencies, as if the gan-
glion cells were “tuned” to particular frequencies, the
frequencies being measured by the number of black and
white lines in a given area of retina. When the same tech-
nique was applied to human subjects, the electrical
changes recorded from the scalp being taken as a measure
of the response, the same results were obtained.
Colour vision
The ability to distinguish among various wavelengths of
light waves and to perceive the differences as differences
in hue defines colour vision. The normal human eye can
discriminate among hundreds of such bands of wave-
lengths as they are received by the colour-sensing cells
(cones) of the retina. There are three types of cones, each
of which contains a distinctive type of pigment; one cone
absorbs longer wavelengths (red light), another middle
wavelengths (green light), and the third type shorter wave-
lengths (blue-violet light). A given colour stimulates all
three types of receptors with varying effectiveness, and
the pattern of these responses determines the colour per-
ceived. In 1986 researchers identified the genes that
correspond to the red, green, and blue pigments.
The spectrum, obtained by refracting light through a
prism, shows a number of characteristic regions of
colour—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
These regions represent large numbers of individual wave-
lengths; thus, the red extends roughly from 7600
angstrom units to 6500; the yellow from 6300 to 5600;
green from 5400 to 5000; blue from 5000 to 4200; and
violet from 4200 to 4000. Thus, the limits of the visual
spectrum are commonly given as 7600 to 4000 angstroms.
In fact, however, the retina is sensitive to ultraviolet light
100
to 3500 angstroms, the failure of the short wavelengths to

stimulate vision being due to absorption by the ocular
media. Again, if the infrared radiation is strong enough,
wavelengths as long as 10,000–10,500 angstroms evoke a
sensation of light.
Within the bands of the spectrum, subtle distinctions
may be made in hue (hue is the quality of colour that is
determined by wavelength). The power of the eye to dis-
criminate light on the basis of its wavelength can be
measured by projecting onto the two halves of a screen
lights of different wavelengths. When the difference is
very small—e.g., five angstroms—no difference can be
appreciated. As the difference is increased, a point is
reached when the two halves of the screen appear differ-
ently coloured. The hue discrimination measured in this
way varies with the region of the spectrum examined;
thus, in the blue-green and yellow it is as low as 10 ang-
stroms, but in the deep red and violet it may be 100
angstroms or more. Thus, the eye can discriminate several
hundreds of different spectral bands, but the capacity is
limited. If it is appreciated that there are a large number of
nonspectral colours that may be made up by mixing the
spectral wavelengths, and by diluting these with white
light, the number of different colours that may be distin-
guished is high.
Defects in colour vision arise from abnormalities in
the wavelength discrimination apparatus. This causes an
affected individual to see many colours as identical that
people with normal colour vision would see as different.
About one percent of males are dichromats; they can mix
all the colours of the spectrum, as they see them, with only
two primaries instead of three. Thus, the protanope (red
blind) mixes only blue and green. In contrast, the normal
(trichromatic) subject mixes red and green to produce var-
ious reds, oranges, yellows, and many greens. An individual
101
who is red blind, however, is unable to distinguish all these

hues from each other on the basis of their colour; if the
individual distinguishes them, it is because of their differ-
ent luminosity (brightness). A person who is red blind
matches white with a mixture of blue and green and is, in
fact, unable to distinguish between white and bluish-green.
The deuteranope (green blind) matches all colours with a
mixture of red and blue; thus, a person who is green blind
sees white as a mixture of red and blue that appears purple
to a person with normal vision. An individual who is green
blind also is unable to discriminate reds, oranges, yellows,
and many greens, so that both types of dichromat are
classed as red-green-blind. For a person who is red blind,
however, the spectrum is more limited because the individ-
ual is unable to appreciate red. The tritanope (blue blind) is
rare, constituting only one in 13,000 to 65,000 of the pop-
ulation; because the person is blue blind, his or her colour
discrimination is best in the region of red to green, where
that of an individual who is red blind or green blind is worse.
Spectral Sensitivity
At extremely low intensities of stimuli, when only rods are
stimulated, the retina shows a variable sensitivity to light
according to its wavelength, being most sensitive at about
5000 angstroms, the absorption maximum of the rod
visual pigment, rhodopsin. In the light-adapted retina one
may plot a sensitivity curve, obtained by measuring the
relative amounts of light energy of different wavelengths
required to produce the same sensation of brightness; the
different stimuli appear coloured, but the subject is asked
to ignore the colours and match them on the basis of their
luminosity (brightness). This is carried out with a special
instrument called the flicker-photometer. There is a char-
acteristic shift in the maximum sensitivity from 5000
102
angstroms for scotopic (night) vision to 5550 angstroms

for photopic (day) vision, the so-called Purkinje shift. It
has been suggested that the cones have a pigment that
shows a maximum of absorption at 5550 angstroms, but
the phenomena of colour vision demand that there be
three types of cone, with three separate pigments having
maximum absorption in the red, green, and blue, so that it
is more probable that the photopic luminosity curve is a
reflection of the summated behaviour of the three types
of cone rather than of one.
The Purkinje shift has an interesting psychophysical
correlate; it may be observed, as evening draws on, that
the luminosities of different colours of flowers in a garden
change; the reds become much darker or black, while the
blues become much brighter. This occurs because in this
range of luminosities, called mesopic, both rods and cones
are responding, and, as the rod responses become more
pronounced—i.e., as darkness increases—the rod lumi-
nosity scale prevails over that of the cones.
It may be assumed that the sensation of luminosity
under any given condition is determined by certain gan-
glion cells that make connections to all three types of cone
and also to rods; at extremely low levels of illumination
their responses are determined by the activity aroused in
the rods. As the luminance is increased, the ganglion cell is
activated by both rods and cones, and so its luminosity
curve is governed by both rod and cone activity. Finally, at
extremely high luminances, when the rods are “saturated”
and ceasing to respond, the luminosity curve is, in effect,
compounded of the responses of all three types of cone.
Wavelength Discrimination
The night visual system, mediated by rods, is unable to
discriminate between different wavelengths; thus, a
103
threshold stimulus of light with a wavelength of 4800 ang-

stroms gives a sensation of light that is indistinguishable
from that evoked by a wavelength of 5300 angstroms. If
the intensities are increased, however, the lights evoke
sensations of blue and green, respectively. Rods are unable
to mediate wavelength, or colour, discrimination, whereas
the cones can because the rods form a homogeneous pop-
ulation, all containing the same photopigment, rhodopsin.
Thus, the response of a nerve cell connected with a rod or
group of rods will vary with the wavelength of light.
When the response, measured in frequency of dis-
charge in the bipolar or ganglion cell, is plotted against the
wavelength of the stimulating light, the curve is essentially
similar to the absorption spectrum of rhodopsin when the
same amount of energy is in each stimulus; thus, blue-
green of 5000 angstroms has the most powerful effect
because it is absorbed most efficiently, whereas violet and
red have the smallest effects. In this sense, the rods behave
as wavelength discriminators. However, there are pairs of
wavelengths on each side of the peak to which the same
response is obtained; thus, a blue of 4800 angstroms and a
yellow of 6000 angstroms give the same discharge.
Moreover, if the intensity of the stimulus is varied, a new
curve is obtained, and the same response is obtained with
a high intensity of violet at 4000 angstroms as with blue
at the lower intensity. In general, by varying the intensity
of the stimulus of a single wavelength, all types of response
may be obtained, so that the brain never receives a mes-
sage indicating, in a unique fashion, that the retina was
stimulated with, say, green light of 5300 angstroms; the
same message could be given by blue light of 4800 ang-
stroms, red light of 6500 angstroms, and so on.
Ideally, colour discrimination would require a large
number of receptors specifically sensitive to small bands
104
of the spectrum, but the number would have to be

extremely large because the capacity for hue discrimina-
tion is extremely great. In fact, however, the phenomena
of colour mixing suggest that the number of receptors
may be limited.
Colour Mixing
The fundamental principle of colour mixing was discov-
ered by English physicist and mathematician Sir Isaac
Newton when he found that white light separates spa-
tially into its different component colours on passing
through a prism. When the same light is passed through
another prism, so that the individual bands of the spec-
trum are superimposed on each other, the sensation
becomes one of white light. Thus, the retina, when white
light falls on it, is really being exposed to all the wave-
lengths that make up the spectrum. Because these
wavelengths fall simultaneously on the same receptors,
the evoked sensation is one of white. If the wavelengths
are spread out spatially, they evoke separate sensations,
such as red or yellow, according to which receptors receive
which bands of wavelengths. In fact, the sensation of
white may be evoked by employing much fewer wave-
lengths than those in the spectrum: namely, by mixing
three primary hues—red, green, and blue.
Furthermore, any colour, be it a spectral hue or not,
may be matched by a mixture of these three primaries,
red, green, and blue, if their relative intensities are varied.
Many of the colours of the spectrum can be matched by
mixtures of only two of the primary colours, red and
green; thus the sensations of red, orange, yellow, and green
may be obtained by adding more and more green light to
a red one.
105
Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727), English scientist and mathematician. Hulton

Archive/Getty Images
106
To one accustomed to mixing pigments, and to mixing

a blue pigment, for example, with yellow to obtain green,
the statement that red plus green can give yellow or
orange, or that blue plus yellow can give white, may sound
strange. The mixing of pigments is essentially a subtrac-
tive process, however, as opposed to the additive process
of throwing differently coloured lights on a white screen.
Thus, a blue pigment is blue because it reflects mainly
blue (and some green) light and absorbs red and yellow;
and a yellow pigment reflects mainly yellow and some
green and absorbs blue and red. When blue and yellow
pigments are mixed, and white light falls on the mixture,
all bands of colour are absorbed except for the green
colour band.
Young-Helmholtz Theory
It was the phenomena of colour mixing that led English
physician and physicist Thomas Young in 1802 to postu-
late that there are three colour receptors, each one
especially sensitive to one part of the spectrum; these
receptors were thought to convey messages to the brain,
and, depending on how strongly they were stimulated by
the coloured light, the combined message would be inter-
preted as that due to the actual colour. The theory was
developed by German scientist Hermann von Helmholtz
and is called the Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory.
As expressed in modern terms, the Young-Helmholtz
theory postulates that there are three types of cone in the
retina, characterized by the presence of one of three dif-
ferent pigments, one absorbing preferentially in the red
part of the spectrum, another in the green, and another in
the blue. A coloured stimulus—e.g., a yellow light—would
stimulate the red and green receptors, but would have lit-
tle effect on the blue; the combined sensation would be
107
that of yellow, which would be matched by stimulating the

eye with red and green lights in correct proportions of
relative intensity. A given coloured stimulus would, in gen-
eral, evoke responses in all three receptors, and it would
be the pattern of these responses—e.g., blue strongly,
green less strongly, and red weakest—that would deter-
mine the quality of the sensation. The intensity of the
sensation would be determined by the average frequen-
cies of discharge in the receptors. Thus, increasing the
intensity of the stimulus would clearly change
the responses in all the receptors, but if they main-
tained the same pattern, the sensation of hue might
remain unaltered and only that of intensity would change;
the observer would say that the light was brighter but still
bluish green. Thus, the involvement of several receptors
reduces the possibility of confusion between stimuli of
different intensity but the same wavelength composition;
the system is not perfect because the laws of colour mix-
ing show that the eye is incapable of certain types of
discrimination, as, for example, between yellow and a mix-
ture of red and green, but as a means of discriminating
subtle changes in the environment the eye is a very satis-
factory instrument.
The direct proof that the eye does contain three types
of cone has been secured. This was done by examining the
light emerging from the eye after reflection off the retina;
in the dark-adapted eye the light emerging was deficient in
blue light because this had been preferentially absorbed
by the rhodopsin. In the light-adapted eye, when only
cone pigments are absorbing light, the emerging light can
be shown to be deficient in red and green light because of
the absorption by pigments called erythrolabe and chloro-
labe. The light passing through individual cones of the
excised human retina can be examined by a microscope
device, and it was shown by such examination that cones
108
were of three different kinds according to their prefer-

ence for red, green, and blue lights.
Neuron Response to Colour

If the three types of cones respond differently to light
stimuli, one may expect to find evidence for this differ-
ence in type of response by examining the
electrophysiological changes taking place in the retina;
ideally, one should like to place a microelectrode in or on a
cone, then in or on its associated bipolar cell, and so on up
the visual pathway.
In the earliest studies, the optic nerve fibres of the
frog were examined—i.e., the axons of ganglion cells.
The light-adapted retina was stimulated with wavelengths
of light stretching across the spectrum, and the responses
in arbitrarily selected single fibres were examined. The
responses to stimuli of the same energy but different
wavelengths were plotted as frequency of discharge
against wavelength, and the fibres fell into several catego-
ries, some giving a so-called dominator response, in which
the fibre responded to all wavelengths and gave a maxi-
mum response in the yellow-green at 5600 angstroms.
Other fibres gave responses only over limited ranges of
wavelengths, and their wavelengths of maximum response
tended to be clustered in the red, green, and blue regions.
These became known as modulators. Further study
revealed that the message in the dominator indicated to
the brain the intensity of the stimulus—i.e., it deter-
mined the sensation of brightness—whereas the
modulators indicated the spectral composition of
the stimulus, the combined messages in all the modula-
tors resulting in a specific colour sensation. In the
dark-adapted retina, when only rods were being stimu-
lated, the response was of the dominator type, but the
109
maximum response occurred with a wavelength of 5000

angstroms, the absorption maximum of rhodopsin.
A more careful examination of the responses in single
fibres, especially in the fish, which has good colour vision,
showed that things were not quite as simple as originally
thought because the response of a ganglion cell, when
light falls on its receptive field in the retina, is not just a
discharge of action potentials that ceases when the light is
switched off. This type of response is rare; the most usual
ganglion cell or optic nerve fibre has a receptive field orga-
nized in a concentric manner, so that a spot of light falling
in the central part of the field produces a discharge, while
a ring of light falling on the surrounding area has the oppo-
site effect, giving an off-response—i.e., giving a discharge
only when the light is switched off. Such a ganglion
cell would be called an on-centre-off-periphery unit;
others behaved in the opposite way, being
off-centre-on-periphery.
When these units are examined with coloured lights,
and when care is taken to stimulate the centres and sur-
rounding areas separately, an interesting feature emerges;
the centre and surrounding areas usually have opposite, or
opponent, responses. Thus, some may be found giving an
on-response to red in the centre of the field and an off-
response to green in the surrounding area, so that
simultaneous stimulation of centre with red and surround-
ing area with green gives no response, the inhibitory effect
of the off-type of response cancelling the excitatory
effect of the on-type. With many other units the effects
were more complex, the centre giving an on-response to
red and an off-response to green, whereas the surrounding
area gave an off-response to red and an on-response to
green, and vice versa. This opponent organization proba-
bly subserves several functions. First, it enables the retina
110
to emphasize differences of colour in adjacent parts of the

field, especially when the boundary between them moves,
as indeed it is continually doing in normal vision because
of the small involuntary movements of the eyes. Second, it
is useful in “keeping the retina quiet”; there are about one
million optic nerve fibres, and if all these were discharging
at once the problem of sorting out their messages, and
making meaning of them, would be enormous. Opponence
causes diffuse white light falling on many of these chro-
matic units to have no effect because the inhibitory
surrounding area cancels the excitatory centre. When
light is coloured, however, the previously inactive units
come into activity.
These responses show that by the time the effect of
light has passed out of the eye in the optic nerve the mes-
sage is well colour-coded. Thus all the evidence points to
the correctness of the Young-Helmholtz hypothesis with
respect to the three-colour basis. The three types of recep-
tor, responding to different regions of the spectrum in
specific manners, transmit their effects to bipolar and
horizontal cells. The latter neurons have been studied
from the point of view of their colour-coding. The poten-
tials recorded from them were called S-potentials; these
were of two types, which classified them as responding to
colour (C-units) and luminosity (L-units).
The C-type of cell gave an opponent type of response,
in the sense that the electrical sign varied with the wave-
length band, red and green having opponent effects on
some cells, and blue and yellow on others. These responses
reflect the connections of the horizontal cells to groups
of different cones, the blue-yellow type, for example,
having connections with blue and red and green cones,
while the red-green would have connections only with
red and green cones.
111
Cells of the Receptive Field
The cells at the next stage, the ganglion cells, give a fairly
precisely coded set of messages indicating the chromatic
(colour) quality and the luminosity (brightness) of the
stimulus, organized in such a way, however, as to facilitate
the discrimination of contrast. At higher stages—e.g.,
in the cells of the lateral geniculate body—this emphasis
on opponence, or contrast, is maintained and extended;
thus, several types of cell have been described that differ
in accordance with the organization of their receptive
fields from the colour aspect; some were very similar to
ganglion cells, whereas others differed in certain
respects. Some showed no opponence between colours
when centre and periphery were compared, so that if a red
light on the periphery caused inhibition, green and
blue light would also do so. Others had no centre-periph-
ery organization, the receptive field consisting of only a
central spot; different colours had different effects on this
spot; and so on.
In the cerebral cortex there is the same type of oppo-
nence with many units, but because cortical cells require
stimuli of definite shape and often are not activated by
simple spot stimuli, early studies carried out before these
requirements were known probably failed to elucidate the
true chromatic requirements of these high-order neurons.
In general, the responses are what might be predicted on
the basis of connections made to lateral geniculate neu-
rons having the chromatic responses already known. Thus
the final awareness of colour probably depends on the
bombardment of certain higher-order cortical neurons by
groups of primary cortical neurons, each group sending a
different message by virtue of the connections it makes to
groups of cones, connections mediated, of course, through
the neurons of the retina and lateral geniculate body.
112
The photochemical process

For the energy of light to exert its effect it must be
absorbed. The action-spectrum for vision (the sensitivity
of the eye to light) in the completely dark-adapted eye has
a maximum in the region of 5000 angstroms, and this cor-
responds with the maximum of absorption of light by the
pigment, rhodopsin, extracted from the dark-adapted ret-
ina. The amount of light energy absorbed by a single rod at
the threshold for vision is extremely small—namely, one
quantum—and this is quite insufficient to provide the
energy required to cause an electrical change in the mem-
brane of the rod that will be propagated from the point of
absorption of the light to the rod spherule (which takes
part in the synapse between rod and bipolar cell). There
must, therefore, be a chemical amplification process tak-
ing place within the rod, and the absorption of a quantum
must be viewed as the trigger that sets off other changes,
which in turn provide the required amount of energy.
Rhodopsin
Visual purple, or rhodopsin, is a chromoprotein, a protein,
opsin, with an attached chromatophore (“pigment-
bearing”) molecule that gives it its colour—i.e., that allows
it to absorb light in the visible part of the spectrum. In the
absence of such a chromatophore, the protein would only
absorb in the ultraviolet and so would appear colourless to
the eye. The chromatophore group was identified as reti-
nal, which is the substance formed by oxidation of vitamin
A; on prolonged exposure of the eye to light, retinal can be
found, free from the protein opsin, in the retina. When
the eye is allowed to remain in the dark, the rhodopsin is
regenerated by the joining up of retinal with opsin. Thus
one may write:
113
rhodopsin ⇌ retinal + opsin.
The incidence of light on the retina causes the reac-

tion to go to the right (that is, causes rhodopsin to form
retinal plus opsin), and this photochemical change causes
the sensation of light. The process is reversed by a ther-
mal—i.e., non-photochemical—reaction, so that for any
given light intensity a steady state is reached with the
regenerative process just keeping pace with the photo-
chemical bleaching. Dark adaptation, or one element in it,
is the regenerative process. The change in the rhodopsin
molecule that leads to its bleaching—i.e., the splitting off
of the retinal molecule—takes place in a succession of
steps; and there is reason to believe that the electrical
change in the rod that eventually evokes the sensation of
light occurs at a stage well before the splitting off of the
retinal. One may describe as a transduction process
the chemical events that take place between the absorp-
tion of light and the electrical event, whatever that may
be; the rod behaves as a transducer in that it converts light
into electrical or neural energy.
Transduction
Immediately after absorption of a quantum, the rhodopsin
molecule is changed into a substance called prelumirho-
dopsin, recognized by its different colour from that of
rhodopsin; this product is so highly unstable that at body
temperature it is converted, without further absorption of
light, into a series of products. These changes may be
arrested by cooling the solution to −195 °C (−319 °F), at
which temperature prelumirhodopsin remains stable; on
warming to −140 °C (−220 °F) prelumirhodopsin becomes
lumirhodopsin, with a slightly different colour; on warm-
ing further, successive changes are permitted until finally
114
retinal is split off from the opsin to give a yellow solution.

The important point to appreciate is that only at this stage
is the chromatophore group split off; the earlier products
have involved some change in the structure of the chro-
moprotein, but not so extreme as to break off the retinal.
The precise nature of these changes is not yet completely
elucidated, but the most fundamental one—namely, that
occurring immediately after absorption of the quantum—
has been shown to consist in a change in shape of the
retinal molecule while it is still attached to opsin.
Thus retinal, like vitamin A, can exist in several forms
because of the double bonds in its carbon chain—the so-
called cis-trans isomerism. In other words, the same group
of atoms constituting the retinal molecule can be twisted
into a number of different shapes, although the sequence
of the atoms is unaltered. While attached to the opsin
molecule in the form of rhodopsin, the retinal has a shape
called 11-cis, being somewhat folded, while on conversion
to prelumirhodopsin the retinal has a straighter shape
called all-trans; the process is called one of photoisomer-
ization, the absorption of light energy causing the molecule
to twist into a new shape. Having suffered this alteration
in shape, the retinal presumably causes some instability in
the opsin, making it, too, change its shape, and thereby
exposing to the medium in which it is bathed chemical
groupings that were previously shielded by being envel-
oped in the centre of the molecule. It may be assumed
that these changes in shape induce alterations in the light-
absorbing character of the molecule that permit the
recognition of the new forms of molecule represented by
lumirhodopsin, metarhodopsins I and II, and so on.
The final change is more drastic because it involves the
complete splitting off of the retinal; an earlier stage—
namely, the conversion of metarhodopsin I to
metarhodopsin II—has been shown to involve a bodily
115
change in position of the retinal, which in rhodopsin is

linked to the lipid (fatty) portion of the molecule, whereas
in metarhodopsin II it is found to have become attached
to an amino acid in the backbone-chain of the protein
(amino acids are subunits of proteins). Thus, in its native
unilluminated state, retinal is attached to a lipid, which
is presumably linked to the protein, so that rhodopsin is
more properly called a chromolipoprotein rather than a
chromoprotein. The outer segments of the rods are consti-
tuted by membranous disks, and it is well established that
the material from which these membranes are constructed
is predominantly lipid, so that one may envisage the rho-
dopsin molecules as being, in fact, part of the membrane
structure. The techniques used for extraction presumably
tear the molecules from the main body of the lipid, but
some of the lipid remains with the protein and retinal to
constitute the link holding these two parts together.
Within the retina these chemical changes are all revers-
ible, so that when a steady light is maintained on the retina
the latter will contain a mixture of several or all of the
intermediate compounds. In the dark, all will be gradually
reconverted to rhodopsin. Because lack of vitamin A, from
which retinal is derived, causes night blindness, some of
the retinal must get lost from the eye to the general circu-
lation; and it is actually replaced by the cells of the pigment
epithelium, which are closely associated with the rods.
As to which of these chemical changes acts as the trig-
ger for vision, there is some doubt. The discovery that the
transition from metarhodopsin I to metarhodopsin II
involves an actual shift of the retinal part of the molecule
from linkage to lipid to linkage to protein reinforces the
belief that this particular shift is sufficient to lead ulti-
mately to electrical discharges in the optic nerve.
116
CHAPTER5
VISION AND THE BRAIN
V ision is a type of sensory perception, and as such the
brain plays a crucial role in the interpretation of
information transmitted from the retina. There are sev-
eral areas of the brain that are involved in this process.
Information about an object in the visual field travels to
the visual centres in the brain in the form of electrical
impulses. These impulses, which originate in the cells of
the retina, are sent along neuronal tracts that define the
visual pathway in the brain.
One example of how the brain interprets visual infor-
mation is provided by stereoscopy. In binocular vision,
each eye forms an image of an object on its retina, and as a
result information about two images, in the form of
impulses from both retinas, are sent to the optic nerve in
the brain and are ultimately received by the visual centres
at the back of the brain. There, the impulses from the two
views of the same object are unified, resulting in a stereo-
scopic image. The brain uses information obtained from
stereoscopic vision to judge the distance to an object,
thereby providing perspective.
The visual paThWay

The axons of the ganglion cells converge on the region of
the retina called the papilla or optic disk. They leave the
globe as the optic nerve, in which they maintain an orderly
arrangement in the sense that fibres from the macular
zone of the retina occupy the central portion, the fibres
from the temporal half of the retina take up a concentric
position, and so on; when outside the orbit, there is a
117
partial decussation (crossover). The fibres from the nasal

halves of each retina cross to the opposite side of the
brain, while those from the temporal halves remain
uncrossed. This partial decussation is called the chiasma.
The optic nerves after this point are called the optic tracts,
containing nerve fibres from both retinas. The result of
the partial decussation is that an object in, say, the right-
hand visual field produces effects in the two eyes that are
transmitted to the left-hand side of the brain only. With
A stereogram is an optical illusion of depth. A viewer can see an image that

appears three-dimensional by putting one’s nose on the image, focusing the eyes
beyond the image on the page, and then moving back. The slight difference in
repeated figures creates the illusion of depth in the 2D image, just as the slight
difference in perspective between one’s eyes creates the perception of depth on 3-D
objects and screens. © www.istockphoto.com / Joseph Jean Rolland Dubé
118
7 Vision and the Brain 7
cutaneous (skin) sensation there is a complete crossing-

over of the sensory pathway; thus, information from the
right half of the body, and the right visual field, is all con-
veyed to the left-hand part of the brain by the time that it
has reached the diencephalon (the posterior part of the
forebrain).
Fusion of Retinal Images

The crossing over of nerves that is partial decussation
serves the needs of frontally directed eyes by permitting
binocular vision, which consists in the fusion of the
responses of both eyes to a single object. In many lower
mammals, with laterally directed eyes and therefore lim-
ited binocular vision, the degree of crossing over is much
greater, so that in the rat, for example, practically all of the
optic nerve fibres pass to the opposite side of the brain.
The fibres of the optic tracts relay their messages to
special nerve cells called the lateral geniculate bodies in
the diencephalon (the rear portion of the forebrain).
Lateral geniculate bodies are a kind of visual relay station.
They convey messages to nerve cells in the occipital cor-
tex of the same side. (The occipital cortex is the outer
substance in the posterior portion of the brain.)
The Visual Field

If one eye is fixed on a point in space, the visual field for
this eye may be thought of as the part of a surface of a
sphere on to which all visible objects are projected. The
limits to this field will be determined both by the capabili-
ties of the retina and the accessibility of light rays from
the environment. The field can be measured on a perime-
ter, a device for ascertaining the point on a given meridian
where a white spot just appears or disappears from vision
119
when moved along this meridian. (A meridian is a curve on

the surface of a sphere that is formed by the intersection
of the sphere surface and a plane passing through the cen-
tre of the sphere.) The field is recorded on a chart. On
the nasal side, the field is restricted to about 60° from the
midline. This is due to the obstruction caused by the nose,
since the retina extends nearly as far forward on the tem-
poral side of the globe as on the nasal side. It is customary
to refer to the binocular visual field as that common to the
two eyes, the uniocular field being the extreme temporal
(outside) region peculiar to each eye. The binocular field is
determined in the horizontal meridian by the nasal field
of each eye, and so will amount to about 60° to either
side of the vertical meridian.
Lateral Geniculate Body

The dorsal (posterior) nucleus of the lateral geniculate
body, where the optic track fibres relay, has six layers, and
the crossed fibres relay in layers 1, 4, and 6, while the
uncrossed fibres relay in layers 2, 3, and 5; thus, at this level,
the impulses from the two eyes are kept separate, and
when the discharges in geniculate neurons are recorded
electrically it is rare to find any responding to stimuli in
both eyes.
The optic tract fibres make synapses with nerve cells
in the respective layers of the lateral geniculate body, and
the axons of these third-order nerve cells pass upward
to the calcarine fissure (a furrow) in each occipital lobe, a
section in the back of the brain. This area is called the stri-
ate (striped) area because of bands of white fibres—axons
from nerve cells in the retina—that run through it. It is
also identified as Brodmann area 17, named after German
scientist Korbinian Brodmann, who divided the cerebral
120
cortex into 52 different sections. It is at this level that the

impulses from the separate eyes meet at common cortical
neurons, or nerve cells, so that when the discharges in sin-
gle cortical neurons are recorded it is usual to find that
they respond to light falling in one or the other eye. It is
probable that it is when the retinal messages have reached
this level of the central nervous system, and not before,
that the human subject becomes aware of the visual stimu-
lus, since destruction of the area causes absolute blindness
in humans. Because of the crossing over of partial decussa-
tion, however, the removal of only one striate cortex will
not cause complete blindness in either eye, since only
messages from two halves of the retinas will have been
blocked; the same will be true if one optic tract is severed
or one lateral geniculate body is destroyed. The result of
such lesions will be half-blindness, or hemianopia, the
messages from one half of the visual field being
obliterated.
Some of the fibres in the optic tracts do not relay in
the lateral geniculate bodies but pass instead to a midbrain
region—the pretectal centre—where they mediate (trans-
mit) reflex alterations in the size of the pupil. Thus, in
bright light, the pupils are constricted; this happens by
virtue of the pupillary light reflex mediated by these spe-
cial nerve fibres. Removal of the occipital cortex,
although it causes blindness in the opposite visual field,
does not destroy the reaction of the pupils to light; if the
optic nerve is cut, however, the eye will be both com-
pletely blind and also unreactive to light falling on this
eye. The pupil of the blind eye will react to light falling on
the other eye by virtue of a decussation in the pupillary
reflex pathway.
Because of the ordered manner in which the optic
tract fibres relay in the lateral geniculate bodies and from
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there pass in an orderly fashion to the striate area, when a

given point on the retina is stimulated, the response
recorded electrically in either the lateral geniculate body
or the striate area is localized to a small region character-
istic for that particular retinal spot. When the whole
retinal field is stimulated in this point-to-point way, and
the positions on the geniculate or striate gray matter on
which the responses occur are plotted, it is possible to
plot on these regions of the brain maps of the retinal fields
or, more usually, maps of the visual fields.
Brodmann area 17 is the primary visual centre in the
sense that, in primates, all of the geniculate fibres proj-
ect onto it and none projects onto another region of the
cortex. There are two other areas containing neurons
that have close connections with the eye; these are the
parastriate and peristriate areas, or Brodmann areas 18
and 19, respectively, in close anatomical relationship to
one another and to area 17. They are secondary visual
areas in the sense that messages are relayed from area 17
to area 18 and from area 18 to area 19, and, because area
17 does not relay to regions beyond area 18, these cir-
cumstriate areas are the means whereby visual
information is brought into relation with more remote
parts of the cortex. Thus in writing, the eyes direct the
activities of the fingers, which are controlled by a region
of the frontal cortex, so that one may presume that visual
information is relayed to this frontal region. In the mon-
key, bilateral destruction of the areas causes irrecoverable
loss of a learned visual discrimination, but this can be
relearned after the operation. In humans, lesions in this
region are said to cause disturbances in spatial orienta-
tion and stereoscopic vision, but much more knowledge
is required before specific functions can be attributed to
these circumstriate areas, if, indeed, this is possible.
122
Integration of retinal
information
The two halves of the retina, and thus of the visual field,
are represented on opposite cerebral hemispheres, but the
visual field is perceived as a unity and hence one would
expect an intimate connection between the two visual
cortical areas.
The great bulk of the connections between the two
sides of the cerebral mantle are made by the interhemi-
spheric commissure (the point of union between the two
hemispheres of the cerebrum) called the corpus callo-
sum, which is made up of neurons and their axons and
dendrites that make synapses with cortical neurons on
symmetrically related points of the hemispheres. Thus,
electrical stimulation of a point on one hemisphere usu-
ally gives rise to a response on a symmetrically related
point on the other, by virtue of these callosal connec-
tions. The striate area is an exception, however, and it is
by virtue of the connections of the striate neurons with
the area 18 neurons that this integration occurs, the two
areas 18 on opposite hemispheres being linked by the
corpus callosum.
Usually stereopsis, or perception of depth, is possible
by the use of a single hemisphere because the images of
the same object formed by right and left eyes are pro-
jected to the same hemisphere; however, if the gaze is
fixed on a distant point and a pin is placed in line with
this but closer to the observer, a stereoscopic perception
of the distant point and the pin can be achieved by the
fusion of disparate images of the pin, but the images of
the pin actually fall on opposite retinal halves, so that this
fusion must be brought about by way of the corpus
callosum.
123
In experimental animals it is possible, by section of

the chiasma, to ensure that visual impulses from one eye
pass only to one hemisphere. If this is done, an animal
trained to respond to a given pattern and permitted to use
only one eye during the training is just as efficient, when
fully trained, in making the discrimination with the other
eye. There has thus been a callosal transfer of the learning
so that the hemisphere that was not directly involved in
the learning process can react as well as that directly
involved. If the corpus callosum is also sectioned, this
transfer is impossible, so that the animal, trained with one
eye, must be trained again if it is to carry out the task with
the other eye only.
The visual pathway so far described is called the genic-
ulostriate pathway, and in humans it may well be the
exclusive one from a functional aspect because lesions in
this pathway lead to blindness. Nevertheless, many of the
optic tract fibres, even in humans, relay in the paired for-
mation on the roof of the midbrain called the superior
colliculi. From the colliculi there is no relay to the cortex,
so that any responses brought about by this pathway do
not involve the cortex. In humans, lesions in the striate
area, which would of course leave the collicular centres
intact, cause blindness, so that the visual fibres in these
centres serve no obvious function. In some animals,
removal of the striate areas does not cause complete blind-
ness; in fact, it is often difficult to determine any visual
impairment from a study of the behaviour of the animals.
Thus, in reptiles and birds, vision is barely affected, so
that a pigeon that has been subjected to the operation can
fly and avoid obstacles as well as a normal pigeon. In rab-
bits, removal of the occipital lobes causes some impairment
of vision, but the animal can perform such feats as avoid-
ing obstacles when running and recognizing food by sight.
In the monkey, the effects are more serious, but the
124
animal can be trained to discriminate lights of different

intensity and even the shapes of objects, provided that
these are kept in continual motion. It seems likely, then,
that it is the visual pathway through the colliculi that per-
mits the use of the eyes in the absence of visual cortex,
although the connections of the optic tract fibres with the
pulvinar of the thalamus (an area in the diencephalon),
established in some animals, may well permit the use of
regions of the cortex other than those denoted as visual.
Perceptual aspects of vision

Binocolar vision is a complex phenomenon. Objects are
perceived in definite positions in space. These positions
are both definite in relation to each other and to the per-
son perceiving them. The first problem, then, is to analyze
the physiological basis for this spatial perception.
Relative Positions of Objects

The perception of the positions of objects in relation to
each other is essentially a geometrical problem. For exam-
ple, in the perception of these relationships by one eye,
monocular perception, a group of objects produces images
on the retina in a certain fixed geometrical relationship.
The neural requirements for this interpretation are (1)
that the retina be built up of elements that behave as units
throughout their conducting system to the visual cortex,
and (2) that the retinal elements have “local signs.” The
local sign could represent an innate disposition to see
things in a particular way. Or, it could result from experi-
ence—the association of the direction of objects in space,
as determined by such evidence as that provided by touch,
with the retinal pattern of stimulation. In neurophysio-
logical terms, the retinal elements are said to be connected
125
to cortical cells, each being specific for a given element, so

that when a given cortical cell is excited the awareness is
of a specific local sign. Studies of the projection of the
retina on the cerebral cortex have confirmed this.
Position in Relation to Observer

The recognition of the directions of objects in relation to
the observer is more complex. The direction of projection
of a retinal point is constantly modified to take into
account movements of the eye; this may be called psycho-
logical compensation. Correct projection is achieved by
projecting the stimulated retinal point through the nodal
point of the eye. Movements of the eye caused by move-
ments of the head must be similarly compensated. As a
result, any point in space remains fixed in spite of move-
ments of the eye and head. Given this system of
compensated projection, the recognition of direction in
relation to the individual is feasible. For example, D may
be said to be due north or, more vaguely, “over there”;
when the head is turned, since D is perceived to be in the
same place, it is still due north or “over there.” In some
circumstances, the human subject makes an error in pro-
jecting his or her retinal image, so that the object giving
rise to the image appears to be in a different place from its
true one; the image is said to be falsely projected. If the
eye is moved passively, for example, by pulling on the con-
junctiva with forceps, the subject has the impression that
objects in the outside world are moving in a direction
opposite to that of the eye.
The apparent movement of an afterimage, when the
eye moves, is an excellent illustration of psychological
compensation. A retinal stimulus, being normally pro-
jected through the nodal point, is projected into different
points in space as the eye moves; an afterimage can be
126
considered to be the manifestation of a continued retinal

impulse, and its projection changes as the eye moves. The
afterimage thus appears to move in the same direction as
that of the movement of the eye. Whether the drift of an
afterimage across the field of view is entirely due to eye
movements is difficult to say. One certainly has the impres-
sion that the eye is chasing the afterimage.
Visual Estimates: Directions of Lines

So far, consideration has been given to the problem of
estimating the positions of points in relation to each other
and to the observer. The estimate of the directions of lines
involves no really new principles, since, if two points, A
and B, are exactly localized, the direction of the line AB
can be appreciated. The organization of the neural con-
nections of the retina and higher visual pathway is such as
to favour the accurate recognition of direction; for the
moment, the question of the maintenance of a frame of
reference must be considered, in the sense that a map has
vertical and horizontal lines with which to compare other
directions. In fact, the vertical and horizontal meridians
of the retina seem to be specialized as frames of reference;
the accuracy with which a human subject can estimate
whether a line is vertical or horizontal is very great.
An important point in this connection is that of the
effects of eye movements on interpretation of the direc-
tions of lines because, when the eye moves to positions
different from the primary straight-ahead position, the
images of vertical lines will not necessarily fall on its verti-
cal meridian. This can be due to an actual torsion of the
eye about its anteroposterior (fore and aft) axis or to dis-
tortion of the retinal image. This means, then, that the
line on the retina that corresponds to verticality in one
position of the eye does not correspond to verticality in
127
another, so that, once again, the space representation cen-

tre must take account not only of the retinal elements that
have been stimulated but also of the corollary motor
discharge.
Visual Estimates: Comparison of Lengths

The influence of the movements of the eyes in the estima-
tion of length was emphasized by Helmholtz. An accurate
comparison of the lengths of two parallel lines AB and CD
can be made, whereas if an attempt is made to compare
the nonparallel lines A′B′ and C′D′, quite large errors
occur. According to Helmholtz, the eye fixates first the
point A, and the line AB falls along a definite row of recep-
tors, thereby indicating its length. The eye is now moved
to fixate C, and if the image of CD falls along the same set
of receptors the length of CD is said to be the same as that
of AB. Such a movement of the eye is not feasible with
lines that are not parallel. Similarly, the parallelism, or oth-
erwise, of pairs of lines can be perceived accurately because
on moving the eye over the lines the distance between
them must remain the same.
Fairly accurate estimates of relative size may be made,
nevertheless, without movements of the eyes. If two equal
lines are observed simultaneously, the one with direct fix-
ation and the other with peripheral vision, their images
fall, of course, on different parts of the retina; if
the images were equally long it could be stated that a cer-
tain length of stimulated retina was interpreted as a
certain length of line in space. It is probable that this is
roughly the basis on which rapid estimates of length
depend, although there are such complications as the fact
that the retina is curved so that lines of equal length in
different parts of the retina do not produce images of
equal length on the retina.
128
Many instances have been cited of well-defined and

consistent errors in visual estimates under special condi-
tions. There is probably no single factor by which the
errors can be explained, but the tendency for distinctly
perceptible differences to appear larger than those more
vaguely perceived is important.
Depth Perception
The image of the external world on the retina is essentially
flat or two-dimensional, and yet it is possible to appreciate
its three-dimensional character with remarkable preci-
sion; to a great extent this is by virtue of the simultaneous
presentation of different aspects of the world to the two
eyes, but even when the subject views the world with a
single eye it does not appear flat and he or she can, in fact,
make reasonable estimates of the relative positions of
objects in all three dimensions. Examples of monocular
cues are the apparent movements of objects in relation to
each other when the head is moved. Objects nearer the
observer move in relation to more distant points in
the opposite direction to the movement of the head.
Perspective, by which is meant the changed appearance of
an object when it is viewed from different angles, is
another important clue to depth. Thus the projected reti-
nal image of an object in space may be represented as a
series of lines on a plane—e.g., a box—these lines, how-
ever, are not a unique representation of the box because
the same lines could be used to convey the impression of a
perfectly flat object with the lines drawn on it, or of a rect-
angular, but not cubical, box viewed at a different angle. In
order that a three-dimensional object be correctly repre-
sented to the subject on a two-dimensional surface, he or
she must know what the object is; i.e., it must be familiar.
Thus a bicycle is a familiar object. If it is viewed at an angle
129
from the observer the wheels seem elliptical and appar-

ently differ in size. Because the observer knows that the
wheels are circular and of the same size, he or she per-
ceives depth in a two-dimensional pattern of lines. The
perception of depth in a two-dimensional pattern thus
depends greatly on experience—the knowledge of the
true shape of things when viewed in a certain way. Other
cues are light and shade, overlapping of contours, and rela-
tive sizes of familiar objects.
Binocular Vision
The cues to depth are essentially uniocular; they would
permit the appreciation of three-dimensional space with a
single eye. When two eyes are employed, two additional
factors play a role, the one not very important—namely,
the act of convergence or divergence of the eyes—and the
other very important—namely, the stereoscopic percep-
tion of depth by virtue of the dissimilarity of the images
presented by a three-dimensional object, or array of
objects, to the separate eyes.
When a three-dimensional object or array is exam-
ined binocularly, the nearer points or objects require
greater convergence for fixation than the more distant
points or objects, so that this provides a cue to the three-
dimensional character of the presentation. It is by no
means a necessary cue, since presentation of the array for
such a short time that movements of the eyes cannot
occur still permits the three-dimensional perception,
which is achieved under these conditions by virtue of the
dissimilar images received by the two retinas.
A stereogram contains two drawings of a three-
dimensional object taken from different angles, chosen
such that the pictures are right- and left-eyed views of the
object. When the stereogram is placed in a stereoscope, an
130
optical device for enabling the two separate pictures to be

fused and seen single, the impression created is one of a
three-dimensional object. The perception is immediate
and is not a matter of interpretation. Clearly, with the ste-
reoscope the situation is simulated as it normally occurs.
To appreciate the full implications of the stereoscopic
perceptual process, one must examine some simpler
aspects of binocular vision.
The images of the points F, A, and B on the two retinas are transposed
to the retina of a hypothetical eye midway between the two. The pairs of
images aL and aR, bL and bR, and so on, coincide on the cyclopean retina
indicating that the stimulated retina points are projected to a common
direction (see text).
The cyclopean system of projection. Copyright Encyclopaedia Britannica;

rendering for this edition by Rosen Educational Services.
131
The figure on the previous page illustrates the situa-

tion in which a subject is fixating (fixing his gaze on)
the point F so that the images of F fall on the foveal (reti-
nal) points fL and fR, respectively. F is seen as a single
point because the retinal points fL and fR are projected
to the same point in space, and the projection is such that
the subject says that the point F is straight in front of him,
although it is to the right of his left eye and to the left of
his right eye. The two eyes in this case are behaving as a
single eye, “the cyclopean eye,” situated in the centre of
the forehead, and one may represent the projection of the
two separate retinal points, fL and fR, as the single projec-
tion of the point fC of the cyclopean eye. As will be seen,
the cyclopean eye is a useful concept in consideration of
certain aspects of stereoscopic vision.
The points fL and fR may be defined as corresponding
points because they have the same retinal direction val-
ues. The images formed by the points A and B, in the same
frontal plane as F, fall on aL and aR and bL and bR; once
again the pairs of retinal points are projected to the same
points, namely, to A and B, and they are treated as being
on the left and right of F, respectively. On the cyclopean
projection, they may be said to be localized by the out-
ward projections of aC and bC, respectively.
If a subject is once again fixing the point F, but the
point A is now no longer in the same frontal plane as
the point F, but closer to the observer, the images of F fall
on corresponding points and are projected to a single
point in front. The images of A, on aL and aR, do not fall
on corresponding points and are, in fact, projected into
space in different directions, as indicated by the cyclo-
pean projection. This means that A is seen simultaneously
at two different places, a phenomenon called physiologi-
cal diplopia (double vision), and this in fact does happen,
as can be seen by fixing one’s gaze on a distant point and
132
holding a pencil fairly close to the face; with a little prac-

tice the two images of the pencil can be distinguished.
Thus, when the eyes are directed into the distance the
objects closer to the observer are seen double, although
one of the double images of any pair is usually suppressed.
Although it is retinal disparity that creates the percept of
three-dimensional space, it is not necessarily the forma-
tion of double images, since if the disparity is not large the
The Vieth-Müller horopter circle. F is the fixation point. If corresponding

points are symmetrically distributed about the foveas, the points in space in
the fixation plane, whose images fall on the corresponding points, lie on the
circle. The images of the point X lie on disparate points (see text).Copyright
Encyclopaedia Britannica; rendering for this edition by Rosen
Educational Services.
133
point will be seen single, and this single point will appear
to be in a different frontal plane from that containing the
fixation point.
To appreciate the nature of this stereoscopic percep-
tion one must examine what is meant by corresponding
points in a little more detail. In general, it seems that the
two retinas are, indeed, organized in such a way that pairs
of points are projected innately to the same point in space,
and the horopter is defined as the outward projection of
these pairs.
One may represent this approximately by a sphere
passing through the fixation point, or, if one confines
attention to the fixation plane, it may be represented by
the so-called Vieth-Müller horopter circle. On this
basis, the corresponding points are arranged with strict
symmetry, and each pair projects to a single point in space
on the horopter circle. Experimentally the horopter turns
out to have different shapes according to how close the
fixation point is to the observer. The point to appreciate,
however, is that the experimentally determined line, be it
circular or straight or elliptical, is such that when points
are placed on it they all appear to be in the same frontal
plane—i.e., there is no stereoscopic perception of depth
when one views these points—and one may say that this is
because the images of points on the horopter fall on cor-
responding points of the two retinas.
If the two eyes are viewing an arrow lying in the frontal
plane—i.e., with no stereopsis—and to the right the arrow
is inclined into the third dimension—i.e., it tends to point
toward the observer—all points on the arrow are, in fact,
seen single under both conditions. Yet it is clear that there
are noncorresponding, or disparate, points on the retinas,
which can be projected to a single point. It is essentially
this fusion of disparate images by the brain that creates
the impression of depth. Furthermore, there is a certain
134
zone of disparity that, if not exceeded, allows fusion of

disparate points. This is called Panum’s fusional area; it is
the area on one retina such that any point in it will fuse
with a single point on the other retina.
To return to the stereoscopic perception of three-
dimensional space, one may recapitulate that it is because
the two eyes receive different images of the same object
that the stereoscopic percept happens; when the two
images of the object are identical, then, except under very
special conditions, the object has no three-dimensionality.
A special condition is given by a uniformly illuminated
sphere; this is three-dimensional, but the observer would
have to use special cues to discriminate this from a flat
disk lying in the frontal plane. Such a cue might be the dif-
ferent degree of convergence of the eyes required to fixate
the centre from that required to fixate the periphery,
or the different degree of accommodation.
Difference in two aspects of the same object (or
group of objects) is measured as the instantaneous paral-
lax. The binocular parallax of any point in space is given
by the angle subtended at it by the line joining the nodal
points of the two eyes; the instantaneous parallax is thus
the difference of binocular parallax of the two points
considered.
If one places three vertical wires in front of an observer
in the frontal plane, one may move the middle one in front
of, or behind, the plane containing the other two and ask
the subject to say when he or she perceives that it is out
of the plane; under correct experimental conditions the
only cue will be the difference of binocular parallax, and it
is found that the minimum difference is remarkably small,
of the order of five seconds of arc, corresponding to a dis-
parity of retinal images far smaller than the diameter of a
single cone. With two editions of the same book, it is not
possible, by mere inspection, to detect that a given line of
135
print was not printed from the same type as the same line
in the other book. If the two lines in question are placed in
the stereoscope, it is found that some letters appear to
float in space, a stereoscopic impression created by the
minute differences in size, shape, and relative position of
the letters in the two lines. The stereoscope may thus be
used to detect whether a bank note has been forged,
whether two coins have been stamped by the same die,
and so on.
The stereoscopic appearance obtained by regarding
two differently coloured, but otherwise identical, plane
pictures with the two eyes separately, is probably due to
chromatic differences of magnification. If the left eye, for
example, views a plane picture through a red glass and the
right eye views the same picture through a blue glass, an
illusion of solidity results. Chromatic difference in magni-
fication causes the images on the two retinas to be slightly
different in size, so that the images of any point on the
picture do not fall on corresponding points; the condi-
tions for a stereoscopic illusion are thus present.
Retinal rivalry
Stereoscopic perception results from the presentation to
the two eyes of different images of the same object; if two
pictures that cannot possibly be related as two aspects of
the same three-dimensional object are presented to the
two eyes, single vision may, under some conditions, be
obtained, but the phenomenon of retinal rivalry enters.
Thus, if the letter F occupies one side of a stereogram, and
L the other, the two letters can be fused by the eyes to give
the letter E; the letters F and L cannot, however, by any
stretch of the imagination be regarded as left and right
aspects of a real object in space, so that the final percept is
not three-dimensional, and, moreover, it is not a unitary
136
percept in the sense used in this discussion; great diffi-

culty is experienced in retaining the appearance of the
letter E, the two separate images, F and L, tending to float
apart. This is a mode of binocular vision that may be more
appropriately called simultaneous perception; the two
images are seen simultaneously, and it is by superimposi-
tion, rather than fusion, that the illusion of the letter E is
created. More frequent than superimposition is the situa-
tion in which one or the other image is completely
suppressed; thus, if the right eye views a vertical black bar
and the left eye a horizontal one, the binocular percept is
not that of a cross; usually the subject is aware of the verti-
cal bar alone or the horizontal bar alone. Moreover, there
is a fairly characteristic rhythm of suppression, or alterna-
tion of dominance, as it is called.
Ocular Dominance
Retinal rivalry may be viewed as the competition of the
retinal fields for attention; such a notion leads to the con-
cept of ocular dominance—the condition when one retinal
image habitually compels attention at the expense of the
other. While there seems little doubt that a person may
use one eye in preference to the other in acts requiring
monocular vision—e.g., in aiming a rifle—it seems doubt-
ful whether, in the normal individual, ocular dominance is
really an important factor in the final awareness of the two
retinal images.
Where the retinal images overlap, stereoscopic per-
ception is possible and the two fields, in this region, are
combined into a single three-dimensional percept. In the
extreme temporal fields (i.e., at the outside of the fields of
vision), entirely different objects are seen by the two eyes,
and the selection of what is to dominate the awareness at
any moment depends largely on the interest it arouses; as
137
a result, the complete field of view is filled in and one is

not aware of what objects are seen by only one eye. Where
the fields overlap, and different objects are seen by the
two eyes—e.g., on looking through a window the bars may
obscure some objects as seen by one eye but not as seen by
the other—the final percept is determined by the need to
make something intelligible out of the combined fields.
Thus, the left eye may see a chimney pot on a house, while
the other eye sees the bar of a window in its place; the final
perceptual pattern involves the simultaneous awareness of
both the bar and the chimney pot because the retinal
images have meaning only if both are present in
consciousness.
This old-fashioned stereoscope allows viewers to see a three-dimensional image

when they look into it. Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
138
So long as the individual retinal images can be regarded

as the visual tokens of an actual arrangement of objects, it
is possible to obtain a single percept, and there seems no
reason to suppose that the final percept will be greatly
influenced by the dominance of one or other eye. When a
single percept is impossible, retinal rivalry enters; this is
essentially an alternation of awareness of the two fields—
the subject apparently makes attempts to find something
intelligible in the combined presentation by suppressing
first one field and then the other—and certainly it would
be incorrect to speak of ocular dominance as an absolute
and invariable imposition of a single field on awareness,
since this does not occur. Dominance, however, has a well-
defined physiological meaning in so far as certain cells of
the cerebral cortex may be activated exclusively by one
eye, either because the other eye makes no neural connec-
tions with it or because the influence of the other eye is
dominant.
Binocular Brightness Sensation

When the two eyes are presented with differently illumi-
nated objects or surfaces some interesting phenomena
emerge. Thus fusion may give rise to a sensation of lustre.
In other instances, rivalry takes place, the one or other
picture being suppressed, while in still others the bright-
ness sensation is intermediate between those of the two
pictures. This gives rise to the paradox whereby a mon-
ocularly viewed white surface appears brighter than when
it is viewed binocularly in such a way that one eye views it
directly and the other through a dark glass. In this second
case the eyes are receiving more light, but because the
sensation is determined by both eyes, the result is one
that would be obtained were one eye to look at a less
luminous surface.
139
Neurons of the visual centres

To elucidate the functions of the various stages in the visual
pathway, one must examine the neurons and the responses
to a retinal light-stimulus of the individual neurons at the
different stages.
Ganglion Cells
Ganglion cells have receptive fields that indicate a dual
type of connection with the rods and cones, as indicated
by the centre-periphery organization. A spot of light fall-
ing on receptors in the centre of this field may provoke a
discharge in the ganglion cell or its optic nerve fibre; it is
called an on-response and consists usually in an increase in
the background discharge occurring in darkness. If a spot
of light falls on a ring of retina surrounding this central
region, the effect is one of inhibition of the background
while the light is on, and as soon as it is switched off there
is a pronounced discharge, the off-response. Other gan-
glion cells have been shown to have a directional sensitivity,
responding to a moving spot of light only if this moves in
a preferred direction and showing inhibition of back-
ground discharge if movement is in the null direction.
Geniculate Neurons
In general, the lateral geniculate neuron is characterized
by an accentuation of the centre-periphery arrangement,
so that the two parts of the receptive field tend to cancel
each other out completely when stimulated together, by
contrast with the ganglion cell in which one or another
would predominate. Thus, when the retina is illuminated
uniformly there is little response in the geniculate cells
because of this cancellation. This represents a useful
140
elaboration of the messages from the retina because, to

the animal, uniformity is uninteresting; it is the nonuni-
formity created by a contour or a moving object that is of
interest, and the brain is therefore spared from being
bombarded by unnecessary information that would result
if every receptor response were transmitted to the brain.
Cortical Neurons
When investigators made records of responses from neu-
rons in area 17 there was an interesting change in the
nature of the receptive fields; there was still the organiza-
tion into excitatory (on) and inhibitory (off) zones, but
these were linearly arranged, so that the best stimulus for
evoking a response was a line, either white on black or
black on white. When this line fell on the retina in a defi-
nite direction, and on a definite part of the retina, there
was, say, an on-response, while if it fell on adjacent areas
there was an off-response. Changing the orientation of
the line by as little as 15° could completely abolish the
responses. The simplest interpretation of this type of
receptive field is based on the connection of the cortical
cell with a set of geniculate cells with their receptive fields
arranged linearly.
Eye Dominance
Most of these units (i.e., cortical cells plus connections)
can be excited by a light stimulus falling on either eye,
although there is usually dominance of one eye, in the
sense that its response is greater; when both eyes are stim-
ulated together, the effects summate. In general, then,
when a large number of units are studied, a certain propor-
tion are fired by one eye alone, others by the opposite eye
alone, others by both eyes with dominance of one or other
eye, while still others respond only when both eyes are
141
stimulated. It is interesting that when kittens are deprived

of the use of one eye from birth for several months, this
deprived eye is virtually blind and the distribution of dom-
inance in the cortical neurons is changed dramatically; if
the left eye is deprived, the right hemispherical cortical
neurons show a marked fall in dominance by the left eye,
and an increase by the right eye. Thus, the ability of the
eye to make use of cortical neurons is not fully developed
at birth.
When an electrode is directed downward into the cor-
tex it picks up responses in individual units at successive
depths; units having the same directional sensitivity are
arranged in columns so that the receptive fields of succes-
sive neurons are similarly oriented. When units were
classified on the basis of eye dominance, a similar vertical
distribution of units was found, overlapping with those
based on directional preference. The columns for eye
preference were about one millimetre wide, but those for
directional preference were considerably finer. This
columnar organization of cortical cells is not peculiar to
the visual area.
Of special interest is the behaviour of binocularly
driven (stimulated) cortical cells, since their responses
provide a clue to the fusion of retinal images. The cortical
nerve cell receiving impulses emanating from both retinas
must select those parts of the two retinal images that are
the images of the same point on an object; second, for ste-
reopsis, the nerve cell must assess the small displacements
from exact symmetry that give the binocular parallax. In
experiments, maximal response was often obtained only
when the stimuli fell on disparate parts of the two retinas;
these cortical cells were obviously disparity detectors, in
contrast to others that gave maximal response when the
stimuli fell on strictly symmetrically related parts of
142
the two retinas—i.e., on corresponding points. When suc-

cessive units, during penetration of the electrode, were
recorded, it was found that those requiring the same
degree of disparity for maximal response were arranged in
columns, as with direction sensitivity, so that, in effect, all
these nerve cells were responding to stimuli in a strip of
space at a definite distance from the fixation point.
Complex Neurons
The cortical units (cells), with receptive fields organized
on a linear basis, have been called simple units in contrast
to complex and hypercomplex units. Four types of com-
plex units have been described; as with the simple units,
the orientation of a slit stimulus (that is, a line) is of the
utmost importance for obtaining maximal response, but
unlike the situation with the simple unit, the position on
the retina is unimportant. This type of unit makes abstrac-
tions of a higher order, responding to direction of
orientation but not to position. It is this type of neuron
that would be concerned, for example, with determining
the verticality or horizontality of lines in space. Space
does not permit a description of the receptive field of a
hypercomplex cell, but in general its features could be
explained on the basis of connections with complex cells.
143
CHAPTER6
DISEASES OF
THE OUTER EYE
T here are a number of diseases and disorders that

affect the outer structures of the human eye. These
structures include the orbit, the eyelids, the conjunctiva,
and the cornea and sclera. Many diseases tend to affect the
blood vessels, muscles, nerve supplies, and other compo-
nents of the outer eye tissues. In addition, whereas some
outer eye diseases such as conjunctivitis are common and
are easily treated, others such as tumours of the orbit are
quite rare and may not be curable. Some conditions affect-
ing the outer eye also may arise as a result of a preexisting
disease or infection.
diseases Of The OrbiT

The orbit is the bony cavity in the skull that houses the
globe of the eye (the eyeball), the muscles that move
the eye (the extraocular muscles), the lacrimal gland,
and the blood vessels and nerves required to supply these
structures. The remaining space within the orbit is filled
with a fatty pad that acts as a cushion for the eye and
allows free movement of the globe. With aging, this pad
of fat tends to atrophy so that the globe recedes, causing
a more sunken appearance of the eye that is often seen in
elderly people.
Inflammation of the Orbit

Since the bone that separates the orbit from the nose and
the nasal sinuses is rather thin, infection sometimes
144
7 Diseases of the Outer Eye 7
spreads from the nasal sinuses into the orbit, causing the
orbital tissue to swell and the eye to protrude. This condi-
tion, called orbital cellulitis, is serious because of the
possibility that the infection may spread into the cranial
cavity via the pathways of the cranial nerves that reach the
eye through the posterior orbit. Infections can also spread
to the cranial cavity by way of the blood vessels that lie
within the orbit. Prompt administration of appropriate
antibiotics in most cases eliminates such infections.
However, surgical drainage of orbital abscesses (pockets
of pus surrounded by areas of tissue inflammation) may be
required. Sterile (noninfectious) inflammatory conditions
such as Graves ophthalmopathy (eye disease caused by
thyroid dysfunction) also affect the orbit.
The lacrimal glands, the small glands that secrete
the watery component of tears and are located behind the
outer part of each upper lid, are rarely inflamed but may
become so as a complication of viral infection, such as in
mumps or mononucleosis (caused by Epstein-Barr virus).
Inflammations of the lacrimal sac are much more com-
mon. The lacrimal, or tear, sac lies in a hollow at the inner
corner of the eye in the front part of the nasal wall of the
orbit; under normal conditions, tears run along the mar-
gins of the eyelids toward the nose and are drained through
two tiny holes (called puncta) connected by small tubes to
the upper part of the lacrimal sac. The lower part of the
sac is connected to the nose by the nasolacrimal duct, and
infection may ascend this passage from the nose and cause
an acute painful swelling at the inner corner of the eye
(called dacryocystitis). Blockage of the nasolacrimal duct
prevents the passage of tears into the nose and results in a
watery eye. Such a blockage, which is often accompanied
by chronic inflammation in the lacrimal sac, is usually
treated in infancy with a simple massaging technique.
However, if the problem persists, a procedure to open or
145
stent the tear passageway can be performed to relieve the

obstruction. If this approach also fails, a different opera-
tion can be undertaken in which a new opening from the
lacrimal sac to the nasal cavity is made.
Tumours of the Orbit

Tumours in the orbit are comparatively rare and may arise
from within the orbit, as an extension from nearby sinuses,
or as a metastasis from a distant tumour. Tumours arising
within the orbit include lacrimal gland tumours, lymphoid
tumours, vascular tumours, and tumours of the optic
nerve, among others. Such tumours may be benign or
malignant. Orbital tumours can cause a slow and gradual
protrusion or displacement of the eye, which may prevent
ocular movements from being coordinated with those of
the normal eye. If this occurs, the images of the two eyes,
which are normally fused, may separate and give rise to
double vision (diplopia).
Diseases of the eyelids
Blepharitis
Blepharitis is a common inflammation of the eyelids that
is marked by red, scaly, crusting eyelids and a burning,
itching, grainy feeling in the eye. The eye itself often has
some redness as well. Blepharitis can result from either an
infectious or a noninfectious process. Infectious blephari-
tis is more common in young people; the usual cause is
colonization by Staphylococcus bacteria along the margins
of the eyelids or, less commonly, an infection with herpes-
virus that involves the eyelids.
146
Severe cases of blepharitis can result in ulceration of

the eyelid margin or the cornea. Noninfectious blepharitis
is most commonly caused by seborrhea, a skin disorder
arising from overactivity of the sebaceous glands, or by
dysfunction of the meibomian glands, which are oil-
secreting glands located along the lid margin behind
the eyelashes. The condition is remedied by treating the
underlying disorder and by regular cleansing of the eyelid
margins with gentle soapy solutions, especially since
blepharitis tends to be associated with greasiness of the
skin and with dandruff. Long-term treatment is often
required. Severe cases of staphylococcal blepharitis can
also benefit from topical antibiotic treatments.
The skin of the lids is particularly sensitive to allergic
processes. Allergic blepharitis is often seen after exposure
to ophthalmic medications, cosmetics, or substances in
the environment. Along with the typical symptoms, there
may be severe itching and thickening of the eyelid skin.
Blepharitis is an inflammation of the eyelids that causes burning and irrita-

tion. © CMSP
147
Treatment involves removing the offending agent and

using cool compresses and antiallergy eyedrops.
Sty
A sty is an acute, painful, modular infection of one or
more glands of the eyelid. Two types are distinguished,
the external and the internal sty. The external sty is an
infection, usually with Staphylococcus bacteria, of a seba-
ceous gland in the margin of the eyelid. The eye becomes
sensitive to light, tears flow copiously, and there is a sen-
sation of a foreign body in the eye. The area of infection is
first reddened and then swollen like a pimple or small
boil. The breaking of the sty and the discharge of its con-
tents are hastened by application of warm compresses.
Sties originating in the lash follicles are usually infectious
and start as a painful swelling of the lid. At first it may be
difficult to find a localized lesion, but soon one area
becomes more swollen, and, as pus forms, a yellow point
may be seen near the lid margin.
This swollen eyelid reveals a sty. © CMSP
148
An internal sty results from inflammation of a meibo-

mian gland. It may be caused by an infectious (i.e.,
staphylococcal) or noninfectious process. Internal sties
can be more painful than external sties because they are
pressed between the eyeball and the fibrous plate—called
the tarsal plate—in the lid. Examination of the internal
surface of the lid often shows a red, velvety area with a
central yellow spot through which pus may later discharge.
Sometimes the meibomian glands suffer from a chronic
infection, and a painless firm lump, called a chalazion,
appears in the lid and slowly increases in size. The skin can
be moved freely over the surface of the lump, showing
that the latter is in the deeper tissue of the lid. The inner
surface of the lid will show a discoloured area surrounded
by inflammation. A chalazion sometimes appears without
apparent cause and sometimes as an aftereffect of an
internal sty.
Both internal sties and chalazions are treated with
warm compresses and massage to try to express their con-
tents. Large, persistent, or particularly bothersome sties
and chalazions may require surgical incision and drainage.
Often an underlying chronic inflammation or infection of
the eyelid margin (such as blepharitis) must be treated in
order to prevent recurrence of sties.
Shingles
Herpes zoster (shingles) may affect the skin of the eyelids
and is of particular importance because the cornea (the
transparent covering of the front of the eyeball) and inner
eye may also be affected. The condition often starts with
pain and redness of the forehead and the eyelids of the
same side. Vesicles, or small blisters, form later in
the affected area. The pain may be severe, and some
constitutional disturbance is common.
149
Malposition of the Lids
Malposition of the lid is common in elderly people.

Although usually not serious in itself, it can give rise to
considerable discomfort, irritation, and even impairment
of vision. Types of lid malposition include dermatochala-
sis, ectropion, entropion, and ptosis (or blepharoptosis).
Dermatochalasis
Dermatochalasis is defined as a sagging of the eyelid skin
and underlying muscle. It occurs commonly during the
aging process. Symptoms may be absent or include brow
ache, reduction of superior peripheral vision, sensation
of the lid skin resting on the eyelashes, and interference of
vision by the eyelashes. Forward displacement of orbital
fat may exacerbate this condition. Treatment is predomi-
nantly surgical.
Blepharochalasis, a condition distinct from dermato-
chalasis, is a rare inherited disorder characterized by
recurrent episodes of inflammatory lid swelling. This con-
dition typically afflicts young individuals.
Ectropion
Ectropion is the outward turning of the border (or mar-
gin) of the eyelid that commonly arises when the lower lid
curls away from the globe. The condition most often
occurs in elderly persons as a result of age-related relax-
ation of the eyelid’s supporting structures. Other causes
include congenital malformation of the lid, paralysis of
the muscles that control eyelid movement, excessive scar-
ring and contraction of the eyelid, or mechanical pulling
on the eyelid by tumours or improperly fitting eyeglasses.
In the lower lid, this may cause the punctum (the opening
into the channel that carries tears from the eye into the
nasal cavity) to move away from the eyeball. As a result,
150
tears fail to drain properly, and chronic excessive tearing,

known as epiphora, is experienced.
Other symptoms of ectropion include eye surface irri-
tation and redness. Chronic exposure of the eye surface
from poor lid apposition and altered tear film dynamics
can lead to serious corneal problems. Mild cases can be
treated with artificial eye lubrication, but definitive treat-
ment is surgical.
Entropion
Entropion is the opposite condition of ectropion, and
thus it is defined as an inward turning of the border (or
margin) of the eyelid (usually the lower eyelids). It occurs
most often in elderly persons. It is commonly caused by
age-related alterations in the fibrous and muscular sup-
port of the eyelids. The turning in of the lid margin allows
the eyelashes to rub against the cornea, with resultant irri-
tation, a condition known as trichiasis. Ulceration of the
cornea may be a serious complication. Entropion may also
be due to congenital eyelid malformations, spasms of the
muscle involved in lid closure (orbicularis oculi), or scar-
ring and contracture from underlying eye disease or
trauma. Symptoms from mild cases of entropion can be
controlled with artificial eye lubrication and removal of
any offending eyelashes. More serious or stubborn cases
require surgical correction.
Ptosis
Ptosis, also called blepharoptosis, is a drooping of the
upper eyelid. The condition may be congenital or
acquired and can cause significant obscuration of vision.
In congenital ptosis the muscle that elevates the lid,
called the levator palpebrae superioris, is usually absent
or imperfectly developed. If severe and not corrected in a
timely manner, congenital ptosis can lead to amblyopia
151
and permanent vision loss. Congenital palsy of the third

(oculomotor) cranial nerve (which normally stimulates
elevation of the upper lid) is a more rare cause of con-
genital ptosis.
Acquired ptosis has many potential causes, but it is
usually due to age-related stretching or displacement of
the fibres connecting the levator palpebrae superioris
muscle to structures within the upper eyelid. It can also
result from muscular diseases (such as muscular dystrophy
or myasthenia gravis) or damage to the oculomotor nerve
from diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, trauma, or
direct compression. In a disorder called Horner syndrome,
a slight ptosis occurs in association with a smaller pupil
and decreased sweat production on the affected side.
Treatment of persistent blepharoptosis is usually sur-
gical. Depending on the circumstances surrounding the
onset of the ptosis, testing may be required to investigate
possible underlying causes.
Tumours of the Lids

Benign overgrowths of the blood vessels, called hemangi-
omas, may occur in the lids and give rise to soft, bluish
swellings. They are most often present at birth and tend to
grow in the first few years of life, sometimes contributing
to obscuration of vision and amblyopia. Often they disap-
pear spontaneously, but they can be treated with
corticosteroids (steroid hormones such as cortisone, pred-
nisone, or prednisolone), with interferon (potent proteins
released by cells of the immune system that block cell
reproduction and modulate immune response), or, rarely,
by surgical removal. Simple overgrowths of skin, called
papillomas, result from viral infections and are common
along the lid margin. They require no special treatment
except excision or ablation for cosmetic reasons. A nevus
152
(birthmark) is a benign growth, usually pigmented and

raised, that arises from pigment cells of the skin. Change
in shape, size, or colour of a nevus may indicate transfor-
mation into a malignant tumour.
The lids and the skin of the nose near the inner mar-
gins of the lids are common sites for the development of
skin cancer in older people. The most usual type, called a
basal cell carcinoma (or “rodent ulcer”), starts as a small
nodule in the skin that gradually enlarges and breaks down
to form an ulcer with a hard base and pearly, rolled edges.
Bleeding may occur from the base of the ulcer. Although
basal cell carcinomas are malignant in the sense that they
destroy tissue locally, they do not spread to distant areas
of the body by means of the lymph system or the blood
vessels. Other malignant cancers affecting the eyelid
include sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid glands and mel-
anoma, the latter of which can arise from preexisting nevi.
Diseases of the conjunctiva
Conjunctivitis
Conjunctivitis, also called pinkeye, is an inflammation of
the conjunctiva, the delicate mucous membrane that
lines the inner surface of the eyelids and covers the
front part of the white of the eye. The inflammation may
be caused by a viral or bacterial infection. It can also be
caused by a chemical burn or mechanical injury, or it may
be part of an allergic reaction. Often both the conjunctiva
and the cornea are involved, a condition called keratocon-
junctivitis. The symptoms of conjunctivitis vary, but they
include light sensitivity, redness, itching, a sensation of
sand in the eye, and eye discharge (which can be either
watery or thick and coloured).
153
Viral conjunctivitis, caused by viruses that tend to

attack the cornea as well as the conjunctiva, occurs more
commonly than bacterial conjunctivitis. A variety of viral
organisms can give rise to conjunctivitis. Adenoviruses, a
group of viruses whose disease-causing members may
cause respiratory infections or may survive for long peri-
ods in lymphoid tissue (e.g., in the tonsils), may attack the
conjunctiva and cornea, causing epidemic keratoconjunc-
tivitis. This condition is highly contagious, frequently
spreading from one eye to the other, and is rapidly spread
through direct and indirect contact with infected individ-
uals. The onset is acute, with redness, swelling, irritation,
and watering of the eye and eyelids, along with a tender
swelling of the lymph node in front of the ear. Typically, a
person is contagious for at least a week following onset of
symptoms. Treatment is mainly supportive, with emphasis
on strict hygiene to minimize spread of the virus. The
majority of cases resolve without residual problems. Other
viruses, such as those that cause cold sores, chickenpox,
and measles, also may invade the conjunctiva. Treatment
for these cases may include antiviral drops.
Bacterial invasion of the conjunctiva is less common
than viral infection. Infection is through direct contact
with an infected person or through a person’s own nasal or
sinus mucosa. Eye discharge is generally thick and
coloured, as opposed to the watery discharge of viral con-
junctivitis. The organisms most commonly responsible
for bacterial conjunctivitis in humans are Staphylococcus,
Streptococcus, and Haemophilus influenzae (which may invade
the respiratory tract or the brain coverings). Gonococcal
conjunctivitis, invasion of the conjunctiva by gonorrhea
organisms, was once common among newborn infants,
who became infected during delivery. This infection can
cause blindness if not treated promptly. It is prevented by
routine application of antimicrobials to each eye of an
154
infant after delivery. Gonococcal conjunctivitis can still be

transmitted by sexual contact, however, necessitating
treatment with systemic and topical medications.
Conjunctivitis frequently results from an allergic reac-
tion to topical eye medications or to airborne allergens
such as hay fever pollen. Prominent symptoms include
eyelid swelling, itching, eye redness, and a stringy mucoid
discharge. Cool compresses and artificial eye lubrication
are of benefit, and many antiallergy medications are avail-
able. Vernal conjunctivitis is an allergic inflammation that
tends to recur in the conjunctivas of susceptible (usually
male) children. There are two types of vernal conjunctivi-
tis. In one, the lining of the upper eyelid is affected, with a
characteristic red, pebbled appearance. In the second
type, the inflammation is manifested by separate yellow-
ish elevations on the conjunctiva near the cornea.
Treatment is similar to other cases of allergic
conjunctivitis.
A severe form of conjunctivitis that may culminate in
blindness occasionally accompanies erythema multi-
forme, an eruption on the skin and mucous membranes
that sometimes occurs in association with a systemic
infection or the use of certain medications.
Trachoma
Trachoma, although rare in more-developed countries, is a
significant cause of preventable blindness in the world.
Widespread in some Middle Eastern countries, it has
remained common in Asia, India, Central and South
America, and Africa and occurs sporadically in southern
and eastern Europe. The agent responsible is an intracel-
lular bacterial organism known as Chlamydia trachomatis.
The disease is contagious and thrives where populations
are crowded together in poor hygienic surroundings.
155
Community health assistants check people for signs of trachoma in a small

village in Ethiopia. Trachoma is an eye infection that is the leading prevent-
able cause of blindness in the world. National Eye Institute, National
Institutes of Health. STAR Study Team
Shortage of water for washing and the myriads of flies

attracted to human waste aid the dissemination of the dis-
ease. In some ways trachoma is more of a social problem
than a medical problem. When living standards are
improved, overcrowding reduced, flies discouraged, and
adequate water supplies ensured, the incidence of tra-
choma decreases rapidly.
The early symptoms of trachoma infection are pain,
watering of the eye, and sensitivity to light. At this stage
the conjunctival lining of the lids is red and velvety in
appearance, and the cornea may show gray areas. Later the
conjunctiva appears to have grains of sand embedded in
its tissue, and blood vessels grow into the cornea, caus-
ing it to thicken and become hazy. Secondary bacterial
infections are common, but the real dangers of trachoma
lie in the scarring and contracture of tissue that occur
when healing takes place. These changes affect the upper
lid in particular, causing it to buckle inward in such a way
156
Trachoma can cause trichiasis, a condition in which the eyelid turns inward
and eyelashes rub against the eye, resulting in corneal scarring and loss of
vision. National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health. STAR
Study Team
that the lashes rub across the already diseased cornea,

exacerbating the corneal scarring and potentially leading
to blindness. Antibiotic treatment is usually effective at
eradicating the infection, although any existing scarring
will remain.
Pterygium
A pterygium is an abnormal wing-shaped fold of the con-
junctiva that invades the surface of the cornea. Often
preceded or accompanied by a pinguecula (yellowish
growth in the conjunctiva), pterygia arise from the inner
(nasal) or outer (temporal) aspects of the eye. The growth
can obscure vision if it encroaches upon the centre of the
cornea and thus covers the pupil. Pterygia can contract,
altering the shape of the corneal surface and causing
astigmatism and blurred vision. Pterygia result from expo-
sure to bright sunlight, wind, and dust, as well as from
157
chronic dryness of the eye. Treatment is surgical removal

of the membrane, although recurrence is common in this
stubborn affliction.
Pinguecula
A pinguecula is a very common yellow-white nodule in the
conjunctiva, the mucous membrane that lines the eyelid
and extends over part of the surface of the eyeball at the
front of the eye. Pingueculae are usually found on the side
of the cornea near the nose, although it can form on either
side of the cornea. Pingueculae occur in elderly persons
and are thought to represent degeneration in the conjunc-
tiva as a result of exposure to ultraviolet light. The
condition does not usually require medical or surgical
treatment, although rare cases of irritation caused by pin-
gueculae can be treated with lubricants.
Diseases of the cornea

and sclera
The cornea is the clear window of the eye. It covers the
iris and pupil and serves as a powerful refractive surface.
Any surface irregularity or scar in the substance of the cor-
nea can affect vision. The cornea is an extremely sensitive
tissue and contains many nerve fibres that respond to
pain. Diseases of the cornea also elicit a flow of tears
because of a specialized reflex action that is part of the
protective system of the eye.
Inflammation of the Cornea

As with inflammations of the conjunctiva, bacterial infec-
tion of the cornea is much less common than viral
infection. Of the viruses, the herpesviruses, which cause
158
the common “cold sore” of the lips and skin and the vene-
real form of herpes, are a frequent cause of corneal
ulceration. Infection is most often spread by personal
contact. The herpesvirus causes a typical ulcer of the cor-
nea called, from the pattern of the lesion, a dendritic
(branching) ulcer. The disease starts with an acutely pain-
ful eye, with tearing and sensitivity to light. The ulcer may
heal spontaneously or after medical treatment, but the
virus often lies dormant in the tissues. Recurrences are
common, and with each recurrence there is danger that
the virus will extend deeper into the cornea and cause fur-
ther inflammation and scarring, with eventual vision
impairment. Oral antiviral medications or application of
antiviral eye drops to the cornea usually cause the ulcer to
heal more rapidly. The action of these drugs limits the
multiplication of the virus by interfering with the forma-
tion of virus deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in the host cell.
Bacterial infections of the cornea usually occur after
injury to, or breakdown of, the corneal surface, as few bac-
teria have the power to penetrate the intact surface layers
of the cornea. Such ulcers may be extremely severe, and
there is always a danger of perforation of the eye, particu-
larly in debilitated patients.
Spores of fungi are present in the atmosphere, and the
normal cornea is resistant to infection by these organisms.
However, a fungal infection of the cornea can develop
after a corneal injury or other lesion, particularly if corti-
costeroid drugs have been used in the treatment of these
conditions. Intensive treatment with antifungal drugs is
usually effective in killing the organisms, but a dense scar
may be left.
A corneal inflammation may start in the deeper layers
of the tissue, either by direct infection or from immune-
related processes. One type is seen in adolescents who
have congenital syphilis. Both eyes are usually attacked,
159
although there may be an interval before the second eye is

affected. As a result of inflammation, the cornea rapidly
becomes hazy, and blood vessels grow in from the sur-
rounding tissues to form a pink patch. With the decline in
congenital syphilis in developed countries, the condition
is becoming increasingly rare.
Keratitis
Keratitis is a type of inflammation of the cornea. There
are several varieties of keratitis, which can be caused by
either infectious or noninfectious processes. In many
cases, however, changes in the cornea induced by nonin-
fectious keratitis predispose it to secondary infections.
Often there is inflammation of both the cornea and the
conjunctiva, the mucous membrane that lines the inside
of the eyelid and covers the white of the eye (the sclera). In
this case, the condition is called keratoconjunctivitis.
Infectious causes of keratitis include bacteria, viruses,
fungi, and protozoans. Symptoms vary but may include
redness, pain, decreased vision, light sensitivity, discharge,
or a frank opacity within the cornea. Treatment often
requires culturing the infected corneal tissue and dis-
charge in order to identify the causative organism so as to
tailor antimicrobial therapy appropriately. The concur-
rent use of contact lenses increases the likelihood of
serious infection in these cases and raises special consider-
ations for the eye care specialist.
Interstitial keratitis, an inflammation deep in the cor-
nea, may be caused by congenital syphilis, tuberculosis,
herpesvirus infection, or even physical injury to the eye.
Affected persons may note that their eyes are painful,
tend to water, and are sensitive to light. Treatment is
directed at eliminating the underlying disease. As with any
160
keratitis, if corticosteroids are used in the course of treat-

ment, close follow-up with an ophthalmologist is required,
since certain conditions can worsen with these
medications.
In dendritic keratitis, or dendritic ulcer, the cornea is
inflamed by infection with the herpes simplex (cold sore)
virus or herpes zoster (shingles) virus. The lesions, as the
name suggests, follow branching lines, along which min-
ute blisters may form and break, leaving raw areas. The
cornea may ultimately become insensitive, so the process
may not be painful.
One type of noninfectious keratitis, called keratocon-
junctivitis sicca, results from excessive dryness of the
cornea. This condition is characterized by dryness and
inflammation of the cornea and conjunctiva due to failure
to secrete sufficient tears, which in turn can stem from
immune disorders or diseases that infiltrate the lacrimal,
or tear, gland. The condition is called Sjögren syndrome
when the dry eye is associated with certain systemic disor-
ders. In exposure keratitis the cornea may also become
dry and inflamed when, because of protrusion of the eye-
ball or paralysis of the muscle that closes the lids, a person
is unable to shut his or her eyes completely. Initial treat-
ment employs aggressive eye lubrication; however, if this
fails, closure of the eyelid puncta (tear drainage holes) or
surgery to partially close the lids may be needed.
Keratitis can cause the spread of blood vessels onto
and into the cornea and can cause visual loss by opacifying
the cornea (making it cloudy). Keratitis from chemical
burns, particularly burns from acids and alkalis, is a lead-
ing culprit. Early flooding of the eye with water, either
slightly salted or straight from the tap, is standard proce-
dure, since the extent of the damage depends in large part
upon the length of time that the chemical remains in the
161
eye. The most serious chemical burns are caused by alkali,

which, if not quickly removed, can do severe and progres-
sive damage to the point of “melting” the cornea.
Rosacea keratitis is a complication of acne rosacea, a
disease in which the skin of the face is affected first by
pronounced flushing and later by the formation of nod-
ules and pustules. The keratitis may cause severe pain
and corneal scarring with impairment of vision. Patients
with rosacea keratitis have unusually high levels and
abnormal forms of an antimicrobial protein called catheli-
cidin, which is synthesized by cells of the immune system,
such as macrophages and neutrophils. Cathelicidin stimu-
lates the production of inflammatory molecules that
contribute to the symptoms and complications associated
with rosacea.
Neuroparalytic keratitis is inflammation of the cor-
nea as a sequel to interruption of sensory impulses over
the fifth (trigeminal) cranial nerve. The cornea’s loss of
sensitivity leaves it much more subject to injury, expo-
sure, and infection. This type of keratitis tends to lead
to ulceration of the cornea and impairment of vision
and may result in perforation of the eyeball, which
could necessitate enucleation (removal of the eye).
Treatment includes the intensive use of eye lubricants and
may also include antibiotics if a secondary infection of the
cornea is present.
Other possible causes of keratitis are numerous and
include reactions to topical eye medications, toxin expo-
sure, infection and inflammation of the eyelid margins
(blepharitis), and various allergic conditions.
Scleritis
The sclera is the fibrous covering of the eye that shows
up as a dense white layer beneath the transparent
162
conjunctiva. A relatively mild nodular inflammation,

called episcleritis, sometimes occurs in the superficial lay-
ers just above the sclera. It occurs more often in young
and middle-aged adults and usually improves without
treatment. In more severe cases, treatment with anti-
inflammatory medication may be necessary.
Inflammation of the deeper sclera, called scleritis, is
more severe and is often painful.
Scleritis is immune-mediated and is commonly asso-
ciated with underlying systemic infections, such as
shingles (herpes zoster), syphilis, and tuberculosis, or
with autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis
and systemic lupus erythematosus. Scleritis generally
occurs in people in their fourth to sixth decades of
life, affects women more often than men, and frequently
affects both eyes. It usually produces a severe, deep ocu-
lar pain and a localized or diffuse reddish purple
discoloration of the sclera. On occasion, scleritis can be
severe enough to destroy areas of the sclera and pose a sig-
nificant threat to the health and visual function of the eye.
Other eye complications of scleritis include uveitis, cata-
racts, keratitis, and glaucoma. Scleritis can also be a
harbinger of serious, life-threatening systemic illness.
Treatment ranges from topical corticosteroid eye drops to
oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents. Treatment of
underlying systemic disease, such as with immunosup-
pressive medication, may also be a critical component of
overall therapy.
Episcleritis, in contrast to scleritis, is typically a
benign, self-limited inflammation of the tissues immedi-
ately covering the sclera. It produces redness of the eye
with or without mild tenderness. Only in rare cases do
patients have any associated underlying disease. Treatment
is often not necessary but could include topical nonste-
roidal anti-inflammatory medications.
163
Degeneration of the Cornea and Sclera
There are numerous types of corneal degeneration, many

of which are rare and some of which are familial. The
most common type is keratoconus, a curious condition in
which the central part of the cornea, normally spherical
in shape, begins to bulge and protrude forward as a cone.
The only symptom is deterioration of vision due to irreg-
ular astigmatism caused by the changing corneal
curvature. Contact lenses are often more effective than
eyeglasses in treating this condition. Advanced cases of
keratoconus, and most other types of corneal degenera-
tion, may require corneal transplants.
164
CHAPTER7
DISEASES OF
THE INNER EYE
D iseases and disorders of the inner eye can affect

structures fundamental to the visual process. These
structures include the uveal tract, the lens, the retina, and
the optic nerve. Although diseases such as uveitis, an
inflammatory condition of the uvea, may affect people at
any age, conditions such as cataracts and glaucoma are fre-
quently associated with aging and occur most often in
people over age 65. In addition, there are several inner eye
diseases, including congenital coloboma, congenital cata-
racts, and retinopathy of prematurity, that affect very
young infants. Similar to diseases occurring in the struc-
tures of the outer eye, some diseases of the inner eye are
easily identified and treated, whereas others are only
beginning to be understood and are difficult to treat.
uveiTis
Uveitis is the inflammation of the uvea (or uveal tract), the
middle layer of tissue surrounding the eye that consists of
the iris, ciliary body, and choroid. Uveitis can affect people
at any age, but onset usually occurs in the third and fourth
decades of life.
Anatomical Forms of Uveitis

Uveitis is classified anatomically as anterior, intermediate,
posterior, or diffuse. Anterior uveitis typically refers to
165
inflammation of the iris and anterior chamber; intermedi-

ate uveitis refers to inflammation of the ciliary body and
vitreous humour (the jellylike filling in the anterior por-
tion of the eye); and posterior uveitis refers to inflammation
of the retina, choroid, or the optic disk (where the optic
nerve enters the retina). Diffuse uveitis (panuveitis)
implies inflammation of the entire uveal tract.
Most cases of uveitis are idiopathic, meaning the cause
cannot be determined. However, when cause can be deter-
mined, uveitis is often found to originate from an infection
(viral, fungal, bacterial, or parasitic), systemic disease (typ-
ically an autoimmune disorder), or injury to the eye. When
identified, the most common cause of anterior uveitis is
trauma, followed by chronic joint diseases (spondyloar-
thropathies), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (also known as
juvenile rheumatoid arthritis), and herpesvirus infection.
Causes of intermediate uveitis may include multiple scle-
rosis, tuberculosis, syphilis, Lyme disease, or sarcoidosis (a
systemic disease characterized by the formation of grainy
lumps in tissues). The most common cause of posterior
uveitis is toxoplasmosis (a parasitic infection), although in
immunocompromised patients it is more likely caused by
infection with cytomegalovirus, Candida, or herpesvirus.
Posterior uveitis can also be caused by ocular histoplasmo-
sis (a fungal infection), syphilis, or sarcoidosis. In rare
cases uveitis can be caused by certain drugs, including sul-
fonamides, bisphosphonates (e.g., pamidronate), or
antimicrobials (e.g., rifabutin and cidofovir).
Diagnosis and Treatment of Uveitis

The symptoms of uveitis may be subtle but can develop
rapidly and vary, depending on the site and severity of
inflammation. They can include eye redness, eye pain,
166
7 Diseases of the Inner Eye 7
blurred vision, light sensitivity, floating spots, and

decreased vision. Diagnosis is made on the basis of the
clinical findings. Clinical signs of uveitis include dilated
ciliary vessels, cells in the aqueous humour, keratin pre-
cipitates on the posterior surface of the cornea, adhesion
of the iris to the cornea (posterior synechiae), and inflam-
matory cells in the vitreous cavity (vitritis), sometimes
with snowballs (condensations of inflammatory cells) or
snowbanking (deposition of inflammatory material in the
area where the iris and sclera touch). Other signs may
include yellow-white lesions in the retina (retinitis) or
underlying choroid (choroiditis), retinal detachment,
inflammation of retinal blood vessels (vasculitis), and
swelling of the optic disk. Diagnosis is often confirmed
with laboratory tests in order to rule out malignant condi-
tions with similar symptoms, such as retinoblastoma,
intraocular leukemia, or intraocular lymphoma.
Treatment depends on cause but typically includes
topical or systemic corticosteroids and pupil-dilating
drugs that relieve pain caused by spasms of the pupil-
constriction muscle. However, long-term use of
corticosteroids can have harmful side effects, which may
include increased blood pressure, renal damage, and
osteoporosis. In patients with severe uveitis that is unre-
sponsive to corticosteroids or in patients with
complications associated with steroidal therapy, other
types of immunosuppressant agents can be used. For
example, medications that target specific mediators of the
immune response have proved effective in the treatment
of uveitis. In particular, molecules that block proteins
known as tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-2
receptor have been shown to modulate immune response
in uveitis patients. In addition, the use of intraocular phar-
macotherapy via intravitreal injection and surgical
167
implants also can be effective; however, side effects, such

as cataract formation and elevated intraocular pressure,
are common. Infectious causes of uveitis require antimi-
crobial therapy. In some cases, vitrectomy, surgical removal
of the jellylike material, or vitreous, that fills the interior of
the eye cavity, may be necessary.
Patients with suspected uveitis should be examined by
an eye doctor within 24 hours; if left untreated, uveitis
may permanently damage vision. Uveitis may give rise to
other eye conditions, such as cataracts (clouding of the
lens or cornea) and elevated intraocular pressure, second-
ary to inflammation or topical corticosteroid use. Other
complications, in addition to increased risk of retinal
detachment and adhesions between the iris and lens,
include the formation of blood vessels in the iris, retina, or
optic nerve and the formation of fluid-filled cystlike swell-
ings on the retina, which can damage vision.
Tumours of the uveal tract

Pigmented tumours are the most common tumours aris-
ing from the uveal tract. They may be benign (such as a
nevus or a mole) or malignant (such as melanoma). The
choroid is a common site for these lesions, which can push
the retina forward and possibly cause a retinal detach-
ment. Disturbances of vision are the most common
symptom, but, if the tumour is neglected, choroidal mela-
nomas may enlarge and cause inflammation and raised
pressure within the eye. Small portions of the tumour can
enter the bloodstream and settle in distant organs, partic-
ularly the liver. The growth of these secondary deposits is
often slow, and they may not be apparent until many years
after the diagnosis of the tumour in the eye. Treatment
options for melanoma vary and include local radiation
treatment or removal of the eye (called enucleation).
168
Diseases of the lens

The lens is a transparent, avascular organ surrounded by
an elastic capsule. It lies behind the pupil and is suspended
from the ciliary body by a series of fine ligaments called
zonular fibres. Its transparency is the result of the regular
arrangement of the internal lens fibres, which form con-
tinuously throughout life. Interference with the growth or
maintenance of lens fibres can result in the formation of
abnormal fibres or fibre arrangements that cannot trans-
mit light as well as the normal lens fibres. An opacity is
thus seen in the lens. Minor irregularities are common in
otherwise perfectly normal eyes. If the opacity is severe
enough to affect vision, it is called a cataract.
Congenital lens opacities of many varieties have been
recognized and described since the early days of ophthal-
mology, but they remained curiosities until the work of an
Australian ophthalmologist, Norman M. Gregg, threw
new light on their cause—and, indeed, on that of many
other congenital defects. In 1941 Gregg noticed that, after
an epidemic of German measles (rubella), many of the
children whose mothers had contracted the disease in
the first two months of pregnancy were born with cata-
racts, sometimes associated with deafness and congenital
heart disease. Congenital cataracts can also be inherited;
can be associated with genetic, metabolic, or other infec-
tious diseases and disorders; or may have no known cause
or association. Cataracts are one of the primary diseases
affecting the lens of the human eye.
Cataracts
Cataracts cause opacity of the crystalline lens of the eye.
They occur in 50 percent of people between ages 65 and 74
and in 70 percent of people over age 75. Typical age-related
169
cataracts can cause cloudy vision, glare, colour vision

problems, changes in eyeglass prescription, and, rarely,
double vision (only in the affected eye). Usually, these
types of cataracts are bilateral, although one eye may be
more affected than the other.
Cataracts in the adult may be the result of injury to the
lens by a perforating wound, exposure to radiation such as
X-rays, chronic inflammation such as uveitis, or ingestion
of toxic substances or even of some drugs. The most com-
mon form of cataract is age-related cataract, so called
because it becomes progressively more common with
advancing age. The three common types of age-related
cataracts are nuclear sclerotic cataracts, cortical cataracts,
and posterior subcapsular cataracts. These cataracts can
exist in isolation or in any combination with each other,
and each can cause a wide spectrum of vision problems,
from unnoticeable to blinding. Nuclear cataracts cause a
slow, progressive yellowing or browning of the central core
of the lens as it undergoes compression and hardening.
Cortical cataracts are spokelike opacities that extend
from the lens periphery toward the centre. Advanced cor-
tical cataracts can cause the lens to appear white, a
so-called mature cataract. Posterior subcapsular cataracts
are located near the very back of the lens and, if present in
a troublesome location, can cause vision difficulties even
at a relatively small size. In contrast to nuclear or cortical
cataracts, posterior subcapsular cataracts tend to occur in
younger people and can result from steroid use, exposure
to radiation, or trauma. In addition to age-related lens
changes, some systemic diseases can promote cataract
formation, most notably diabetes mellitus. Management
of symptomatic cataracts is surgical, requiring removal of
the offending lens and placement of an artificial lens
within the eye, if possible.
170
Cataracts present at birth are termed congenital cata-

racts, whereas those that are evident within the first year
of life are called infantile cataracts. They can affect one or
both eyes and can produce severe visual impairment and
amblyopia. They can occur by themselves; in association
with genetic and metabolic diseases, in utero maternal
infections, or toxin exposure; or in combination with
other congenital eye problems. Treatment involves surgi-
cal removal of the cataractous lens if it interferes with
vision. However, placement of an artificial lens within the
eye requires special considerations and may not be appro-
priate, depending on the child’s age. Eyeglasses or contact
lenses are commonly used postoperatively to improve
vision, and occlusion patching of the unaffected eye is
often necessary to treat associated amblyopia.
In the early stages of cataract development, some
visual improvement can usually be obtained with eye-
glasses, but, as the cataract progresses, the visual
deterioration becomes sufficiently severe to warrant
Cataracts cause clouding of the lens of an eye, inhibiting vision.

© M. Eaton/CMSP
171
surgical treatment. Cataract surgery involves removing

the cloudy lens and, in most cases, placement of an artifi-
cial lens within the eye.
Lens Dislocation
Lens dislocation occurs when the lens assumes an abnor-
mal position within the eye. The dislocation, which may
be congenital, developmental, or acquired (typically via
trauma), is usually caused by abnormalities of or injury to
a portion of the zonular fibres that anchor the lens to the
ciliary muscle. Problems associated with lens dislocation
include monocular double vision, decreased vision, and
astigmatism.
Lens dislocation is a feature of a number of congenital
and hereditary disorders, including Marfan syndrome and
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Marfan syndrome is associated
with cardiac and skeletal abnormalities, whereas Ehlers-
Danlos is a condition marked by great elasticity of the
skin and double-jointedness. The usual management of
the lens dislocation is improvement of vision by means
of eyeglasses or rigid contact lenses, although surgical
lens removal may eventually be necessary.
Diseases of the retina
Detached Retina
Retinal detachment occurs when the retina becomes sep-
arated from the underlying layer of supporting cells known
as the retinal pigment epithelium. Most commonly, reti-
nal detachments are caused by the passage of fluid through
a break, or tear, in the retina, a situation called rhegmatog-
enous retinal detachment. The fluid is derived from the
172
Retinal detachment. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
aging vitreous gel that fills the central eyeball space. The
retinal break can result from a number of different mecha-
nisms, including trauma or degenerative changes in the
peripheral retina.
Most retinal breaks or tears, however, are the result of
the natural changes of the vitreous gel that are often expe-
rienced with aging. The vitreous gel is physically attached
to the retina, but, if the gel pulls away, the gel’s surface usu-
ally releases its hold, creating a benign posterior vitreal
detachment without a retinal tear. If, however, a portion
of the retina is torn during this process, the likelihood
that a retinal detachment will soon follow is high.
Unfortunately, the symptoms of a benign posterior vitre-
ous detachment and a serious retinal tear are similar.
These symptoms include the onset of many “floaters”
(deposits in the eye that cause visual spots or shadows), as
173
well as brief, flashing lights in the affected eye. The pres-

ence of bleeding within the eye under these circumstances
greatly increases the chances that there is a retinal tear.
Concern for subsequent retinal detachment is heightened
if there is a perception of a gray or black curtain, or veil,
being drawn across the eye’s visual field.
Not all retinal breaks need treatment, but those that
do (especially those associated with a retinal detachment)
are often treated with laser, freezing, or a variety of surgi-
cal interventions. Failure to reattach the retina in a timely
manner can lead to permanent vision loss. Retinal detach-
ment repair is considered more urgent if the centre of the
retina (the macula) is still attached, since progression of
the detachment to include the macula significantly
decreases the prognosis for good postoperative vision.
Other types of retinal detachments include tractional
detachments, which are caused by abnormal membranes
that contract on the surface of the retina (as can occur
with advanced diabetic eye disease), and exudative detach-
ments, in which the fluid that leaks under the retina comes
from within or beneath the retina.
Macular Degeneration
Macular degeneration refers to any of several blinding dis-
orders that are characterized by the gradual deterioration
of the retina. The central region of the retina contains the
macula lutea, which receives focused incoming light and is
responsible for providing acute vision. The loss of neurons
in the macula causes decreased sensitivity in the centre of
the visual field; peripheral vision is usually retained.
Age-Related Macular Degeneration

The most common form of macular degeneration is age-
related macular degeneration (ARMD), and the incidence
174
of this disease increases dramatically with age, affecting

approximately 14 percent of those over age 80. AMD is
the most common cause of vision loss in the industrialized
world and is most prevalent in populations of European
descent. In the United States AMD accounts for about 54
percent of vision loss in the non-Hispanic white popula-
tion, about 4 percent of vision loss in the African American
population, and about 14 percent of vision loss in the
Hispanic population. In addition, vision loss from AMD
is more prevalent in females. The cause of AMD is
unknown, but in addition to ethnic origin and gender, sev-
eral other risk factors have been identified. These include
smoking and the inheritance of certain genetic variants,
such as those occurring in the genes CFH (complement
factor H), APOE (apolipoprotein E), and possibly ARMS2
(age-related maculopathy susceptibility).
The diagnosis of AMD is determined by the presence,
number, and size of drusen (small masses of extracellular
material) under the retina. As the disease progresses, loss
of the retinal cells can be seen on clinical exams. Advanced
AMD has two forms, often referred to as wet and dry.
Wet AMD occurs when new blood vessels sprout from
the choriocapillaris (vascular layer in the choroid, the tis-
sue separating the sclera and retina), and dry AMD is the
atrophic loss of cells in the macula. Wet AMD can be
treated to retard the growth of new blood vessels, which
slows vision loss. There is no treatment for dry AMD. The
progression of AMD in those at greatest risk of losing
vision can be slowed with high-dose dietary supplementa-
tion of vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, and zinc, all of
which are thought to have an antioxidant function.
Other Forms of Macular Degeneration

Macular degeneration has five known genetic forms for
which the causative genes have been identified. Best
175
disease is a form of macular degeneration that is typically

characterized by early onset and is caused by mutations in
a gene known as BEST1 (bestrophin 1). Stargardt macular
dystrophy, which is the most common genetic form of
macular degeneration, is the only form inherited in an
autosomal recessive manner (disease occurs only when
mutations are inherited from both parents). It is caused
by mutations in a gene called ABCA4 (ATP-binding cas-
sette, subfamily A, member 4). Stargardt-like macular
dystrophy differs from Stargardt macular dystrophy in
that it is caused by mutations in a gene called ELOVL4
(elongation of very-long-chain fatty acids-like 4). Malattia
Leventinese (Doyne honeycomb) retinal dystrophy, which
is characterized by a honeycomb-like pattern of drusen
formation under the retina, is caused by mutations in the
gene EFEMP1 (EGF-containing fibulin-like extracellular
matrix protein 1). Sorsby fundus dystrophy, which is clini-
cally similar to wet AMD, is caused by mutations in a gene
known as TIMP3 (tissue-inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3).
These forms of macular degeneration, with the exception
of Stargardt macular dystrophy, are inherited as autosomal
dominant traits; disease occurs when a mutant gene is
inherited from one parent. All five of these genetic forms
of macular degeneration are rare, occurring in less than 1
in 2,000 people, and can present clinically in children,
young adults, and adults.
Retinopathy of Prematurity
Retinopathy of prematurity is a disease in which retinal
blood vessels develop abnormally in the eyes of premature
infants. In mild forms of retinopathy of prematurity,
developing blood vessels within the retina, which origi-
nate at the optic disk, stop growing toward the periphery
of the retina for a period of time. Thereafter, the vessels
176
This photo shows what someone with normal vision might see if looking at
these two boys. National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health
This photo shows how someone with macular degeneration may view the
same scene. National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health
177
usually resume their development without deleterious

consequences. However, in severe forms of the disease,
the stalled blood vessels break through to the surface
of the retina and proliferate extensively. These fragile
tangles of blood vessels can break, bleed, scar, and pull on
the underlying retina, causing complex retinal detach-
ments and blindness.
The likelihood of developing retinopathy of prematu-
rity increases with lower birth weights and earlier
deliveries. Retinopathy of prematurity is associated with
the administration of high concentrations of oxygen,
given to susceptible infants in an attempt to prevent
respiratory disease. Despite the potential risk of retinop-
athy of prematurity, many infants require the use of
supplemental oxygen to prevent neurologic dysfunction
and loss of life. With current approaches to oxygen ther-
apy and close monitoring, retinopathy of prematurity has
become less common. Even so, the disease remains a sig-
nificant cause of early childhood-onset visual loss,
occasionally occurring even in infants who do not receive
supplemental oxygen.
When necessary, treatment is aimed at destroying
those areas of retina that do not have mature retinal blood
vessels, usually with laser therapy or cryotherapy (freezing
therapy). Additional complications of retinopathy of pre-
maturity include amblyopia, cataracts, glaucoma, and
nearsightedness (myopia), among others.
Coloboma
The failure of one or more structures in the eye to fuse
during embryonic life, creating a congenital fissure in that
eye, is known as coloboma. Frequently several structures
are fissured: the choroid, the retina, the ciliary body, and
the iris. The fissure may extend to the head of the optic
178
nerve. Colobomata may also be confined to individual

structures of the eye. Fissures in the retina cause blind
spots (scotomata), and a coloboma in the optic nerve also
seriously affects vision.
Diseases of the optic nerve

The optic nerve, which carries about one million nerve
fibres, leaves the globe from the back of the eye and passes
through the apex of the orbit into the cranial cavity. It is
surrounded by an extension of the membranes that sur-
round the brain. This connection with the intracranial
cavity is important because some intracranial diseases
cause increased pressure within the skull. Increased pres-
sure is transmitted along the covering of the optic nerve,
causing swelling of the optic nerve head, a condition that
is visible inside the eye. This swelling of the nerve head of
each eye (called papilledema) is one of the most important
signs of increased intracranial pressure. If the swelling
persists, damage to the fibres of the optic nerve can take
place, with subsequent loss of vision.
Optic nerve damage or atrophy may result from optic
neuritis, glaucoma, or any serious disease of the retina in
which a large amount of neural tissue has been destroyed.
It may also follow damage to the optic nerve within the
skull or the optic chiasm, where the optic nerves criss-
cross (close to the pituitary gland). For example, tumours
of the pituitary gland often compress the optic nerve
fibres and cause some degree of atrophy with loss of vision
in that part of the visual field subserved by the fibres
affected. Usually it is the fibres on the inner side of the
optic nerve and those that cross at the chiasm that are
most involved. These fibres supply the half of the retina
nearer the nose, which receives images from the outer
part of the visual field. Thus, in pituitary lesions it is
179
common to find that the outer parts of both visual fields

are abnormal, a condition called bitemporal hemianopia.
Certain chemicals, drugs, and nutritional deficiencies
can also cause optic nerve damage or atrophy. If the under-
lying cause is corrected in time, some vision improvement
may occur.
Optic Neuritis
Swelling of the optic nerve may be caused by inflamma-
tory changes in the nerve, a condition known as optic
neuritis. The inflammation causes a fairly rapid loss of
vision in the affected eye, a new blind spot (a scotoma,
usually in or near the centre of the visual field), pain in the
eyeball (often occurring with eye movement), abnormal
colour vision, and unusual flashes of light. The condition
affects young to middle-aged people and affects women
more often than men.
The optic nerve carries visual data from the retina of
the eye to a relay station in the centre of the brain (the
lateral geniculate nucleus) for transmission to a cortical
area at the back of the brain (occipital lobes). Some
instances of optic neuritis occur as a result of multiple
sclerosis, a disease of unclear etiology that affects the
optic nerve, brain, and spinal cord.
Such individuals may or may not have a previous his-
tory of neurologic problems, and further testing is often
performed to investigate the potential diagnosis of multi-
ple sclerosis. However, other manifestations of multiple
sclerosis may not be fully evident until years after the
onset of optic neuritis, if they occur at all. Other causes of
optic neuritis include infections, such as Lyme disease or
syphilis, as well as unknown causes, in which case the optic
neuritis is termed idiopathic.
180
Optic neuritis may be centred in the optic disk, the

point of exit of the nerve from the eye (papillitis), or it
may be in the nerve shaft behind the eyeball (retrobulbar
neuritis). The symptoms are loss of vision in or near the
central part of the visual field, pain behind the eye, and
pain when moving the eye. The optic nerve usually recov-
ers from the inflammation, and vision gradually improves,
but there often is residual degeneration of the nerve fibres
and some persistence of visual symptoms. Repeated
attacks of optic neuritis occur in some individuals.
Optic Atrophy
Optic atrophy is the degeneration of the optic nerve due
to direct or indirect damage to retinal ganglion cells,
whose axonal projections collectively make up the optic
nerve. Common causes of optic atrophy include glaucoma,
tumours that press on the optic nerve, vascular (blood ves-
sel) diseases, optic neuritis, trauma, and exposure to
various drugs and toxins. The atrophy may be a hereditary
defect, such as in Leber hereditary optic neuropathy
(LHON), which predominantly affects males between the
ages of 15 and 25. There is sometimes recovery of vision in
LHON, but it is rarely complete. Treatment of optic atro-
phy is aimed at correcting the underlying condition to
prevent further optic nerve damage.
Glaucoma
The thin coats of the eye are not sufficiently rigid in them-
selves to withstand distortion following the pull of the
extraocular muscles when the eye is rotated. The eyeball
is kept rigid by the action of the ciliary body, which
secretes sufficient amounts of aqueous humour fluid to
181
maintain the pressure of the eye at a level above atmo-

spheric pressure. Aqueous humour is constantly being
formed and drains away at the base of the iris through spe-
cialized drainage channels. Should these channels become
blocked, the pressure within the eye rises to abnormally
high levels. If the intraocular pressure remains raised for a
long period of time, some retinal nerve fibres will atrophy,
causing loss of visual function.
Glaucoma is the name given to a group of diseases that
cause a particular type of optic neuropathy (i.e., optic
nerve disease or abnormality) that results in visual field
loss. Increased pressure within the eye is one of several
important risk factors for development of glaucoma, but
no one particular pressure is indicative of the disease. The
susceptibility of an individual’s optic nerve, and of the ret-
inal cells whose fibres make up the optic nerve (ganglion
cells), to damage at a particular eye pressure varies widely.
Typically, a “normal” eye pressure range is between 10 and
21 mm (0.4 and 0.82 inch) of mercury, but glaucoma can
arise in people with pressure below 21 mm (normal-
tension glaucoma, or low-tension glaucoma). In addition,
people with pressures above 21 mm (ocular hypertension)
may never show signs or symptoms of glaucoma. A per-
son’s eye pressure is determined by the rate of aqueous
humour formation by the ciliary body and the resistance
to outflow through various pathways. Two major classes of
glaucoma are primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and
angle closure glaucoma.
Primary open angle glaucoma is a common disease and
a leading cause of vision loss in older individuals. Although
the actual cause is not known, it may be due to degenera-
tive changes in the outflow channels for aqueous fluid. It
is rare below age 40, but after this its incidence increases.
Genetic influences are important, and relatives of patients
182
with glaucoma are more likely than others to develop the

disease, as are individuals of African descent, who also
tend to be affected more severely.
The symptoms of POAG are slight or absent in the
early stages. The slow progressive optic nerve damage
does not cause pain, and the early visual loss is in the
peripheral parts of the visual field, affecting central vision
only late in the disease. Both eyes are usually involved,
although one may be more severely affected than the
other. Since vision loss from glaucoma cannot be restored,
successful treatment can only prevent further loss of
vision. It is of great importance, therefore, that the dis-
ease be diagnosed as early as possible. Measurement of
the intraocular pressure is of great value in the diagnosis
of glaucoma. This is a simple test that can be applied as a
screening method for surveys of the normal population.
The medical treatment of POAG consists of the use of
eyedrops that lower the intraocular pressure. Inhibitors
of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase, when taken by mouth,
reduce the formation of aqueous humour and are used as
an additional measure when necessary. If the pressure
remains raised in spite of all medical treatment, then sur-
gical methods or laser treatments must be used to increase
the drainage of fluid from the eye. Treatments aimed at
other potential mechanisms involved in glaucoma are
under investigation.
Another common type of glaucoma is called angle clo-
sure glaucoma. It can be caused by mechanisms that either
push the iris forward from behind or pull it forward to
block the outflow of aqueous humour through the trabec-
ular meshwork. The trabecular meshwork is located in the
anterior chamber angle formed at the insertion (far
periphery) of the iris. The aqueous fluid formed in the cili-
ary body behind the iris flows forward through the pupil
183
A scene as it might be viewed by a person with glaucoma. National Eye

Institute, National Institutes of Health
to the angle of the anterior chamber. In one form of angle

closure glaucoma, called pupillary block glaucoma, the
lens seals against the iris and blocks the flow of aqueous
humour through the pupil. The root of the iris (which is
rather thin) is then pushed forward because of increased
posterior pressure, which closes the angle and prevents
outflow of aqueous humour. The angle may eventually
become completely closed, causing intraocular pressure
to rise rapidly. The eye then becomes red, hard, and pain-
ful, and vision deteriorates. The pain may be so severe as
to cause vomiting. Urgent treatment is required to lower
the pressure and prevent damage to the optic nerve that
could lead to permanent vision loss.
In some cases an acute attack such as this heralds the
onset of glaucoma; however, most people experience
minor subacute attacks that are relieved by rest and usu-
ally reoccur over months or years. Medical and surgical
184
treatments are usually effective in lowering the pressure

in an acute attack and preventing recurrences. Other
causes of glaucoma include chronic inflammatory disease
of the eye, tumours within the eye, and congenital afflic-
tions of the eye. Congenital glaucoma usually is found in
the neonatal or infantile period and is heralded by tearing,
aversion to light, eyelid spasms, and clouding and enlarge-
ment of the cornea. Treatment is aimed at medically or
surgically reducing intraocular pressure, but long-term
visual prognosis is often poor.
185
CHAPTER8
VISUAL DISORDERS
AND EYE INJURIES
V isual disorders encompass a wide range of conditions.

Some examples include eyestrain, retinitis pigmen-
tosa, night blindness, nearsightedness, farsightedness,
colour blindness, and double vision. There are various
causes of visual disorders; for example, some conditions
arise secondary to preexisting disease, whereas others
result from physical injury or are caused by inherited genetic
defects. Many of these disorders, especially those arising
from abnormalities in refraction (e.g., nearsightedness),
are common and are easily corrected with the use of contact
lenses or eyeglasses. However, treatments for some visual
disorders, such as retinitis pigmentosa and colour blindness,
are primarily supportive, rather than curative, and affected
persons must learn to adapt to their visual impairments.
Among the more frequently occurring causes of tem-
porary visual impairment are ocular injuries, despite the
existence of protective mechanisms designed to prevent
injury to the human eye. Such injuries often result from
frontal impact to the eye socket or from the introduction
of a foreign body into the eye. Though many of these con-
ditions resolve with no long-term consequences to vision,
some injuries can result in permanent vision loss.
visual disOrders
Floaters, Blind Spots, and Flashes

One of the most common visual symptoms is the sensa-
tion of small black objects floating in front of the eye,
186
7 Visual Disorders and Eye Injuries 7
known as “floaters.” These move with the eye but lag

slightly at the beginning of an eye movement and over-
shoot when the movement stops. They are due to
proteins, cells, and fragments of debris in the vitreous
cavity of the eye. In certain conditions, as when looking
at a blue sky, almost everybody can perceive them, and
they are normal phenomena. However, a sudden increase
in their number may indicate degenerative changes in the
vitreous, which are particularly likely to occur in near-
sighted individuals and in older people. These changes,
although annoying, are of no serious import. The appear-
ance of many floaters, however, may be associated with
inflammation, bleeding in the eye, or a retinal tear and
should be evaluated urgently.
Blind areas in the field of vision, called “blind spots,”
occasionally force people to seek medical advice. Any
condition that causes failure of function of part of the
retina, the optic nerve, or the optic pathway to the brain
can cause such a blind spot, and the symptom requires
careful investigation. There is a naturally occurring
blind spot in each visual field that corresponds with the
lack of retinal elements where the optic nerve leaves
the eye. The brain is so skillful in filling in the visual pat-
tern that the normal blind spot can be detected only by
special methods.
Flashing lights in the field of vision are caused by stim-
ulation of the retina by mechanical means. Most commonly
this occurs when the vitreous degenerates and pulls
slightly on its attachments to the retina. Similar symp-
toms also arise when the retina becomes torn or detached,
causing brief flashing lights to be seen. The combination
of the abrupt onset of multiple flashes and floaters with a
sensation of a shadowy “curtain” or “veil” coming across
the vision strongly suggests the presence of a retinal tear
and detachment.
187
Visual Field Defect
A blind spot (scotoma) or blind area within the normal

field of one or both eyes is known as a visual field defect.
In most cases the blind spots or areas are persistent, but in
some instances they may be temporary and shifting, as
in the scotomata of migraine headache. The visual fields
of the right and left eye overlap significantly, and visual
field defects may not be evident without specific testing
of each eye separately. Causes of visual field defects are
numerous and include glaucoma, vascular disease,
tumours, retinal disease, hereditary disease, optic neuritis
and other inflammatory processes, nutritional deficien-
cies, toxins, and drugs.
Certain patterns of visual field loss help to establish a
possible underlying cause. For instance, generalized con-
striction of the visual field can be due to glaucoma, retinitis
pigmentosa, hysteria, or chronic high intracranial pres-
sure. Increases in intracranial pressure can also cause
enlargement of the natural blind spot due to abnormal
swelling of the optic disks in both eyes, a condition called
papilledema.
When defects occur in the visual field of only one eye,
the cause can be localized to the eye or to anterior visual
pathways (before the two optic nerves meet at the optic
chiasm). In contrast, defects that involve the visual fields
of both eyes often (but not always, as in the case of glau-
coma) reflect disease processes at the optic chiasm or
farther back in the brain. The specific condition where
visual field defects are present in corresponding halves of
the right and left eye fields is called homonymous hemi-
anopia, whereas defects involving the outer or inner halves
of both visual fields are called bitemporal or binasal hemi-
anopia, respectively.
188
The extent and the location of the blind areas in

the visual fields may provide further clues concerning the
location of the lesion responsible. Bitemporal hemianopia
suggests, for example, a lesion in the optic chiasm, the
point at which the optic nerves from the two eyes meet
and exchange some of the nerve fibres from each retina. A
tumour of the pituitary may press upon the chiasm and
have this effect. Precise demonstration of visual field
defects can be accomplished via perimetry, in which the
affected individual fixates his or her gaze straight ahead
and indicates whether he or she can see special test lights
projected onto an illuminated domed screen.
Nystagmus
Nystagmus is characterized by involuntary back and forth,
up and down, or circular movements of the eyes that are
often described by observers as “jumping” or “dancing”
eye movements. One type of nystagmus, called pendular
nystagmus, is characterized by even, smooth eye move-
ments, whereas in the type referred to as jerk nystagmus
the movements are sharper and quicker in one direction
than in the other. Jerk nystagmus can occur normally, such
as when one is dizzy (e.g., from spinning around in circles)
or is watching objects pass by quickly from the window of
a moving vehicle. Pathologic nystagmus may be present at
or shortly after birth because of retinal or optic nerve
abnormalities, cataracts, albinism, or a host of other con-
ditions (sensory nystagmus). Alternatively, people can be
born with nystagmus and no associated abnormalities of
the eye (congenital motor nystagmus). Often there is a
gaze or a head position that the affected individual adopts
in which the nystagmus is least severe and visual acuity is
optimized (called the null point).
189
A subtype of nystagmus, called spasmus nutans, occurs

in infants and is associated with head nodding and a
twisted neck position (torticollis). Acquired childhood or
adult nystagmus may be caused by intracranial tumours
or other neurologic abnormalities, as well as certain vascu-
lar diseases, multiple sclerosis, drug intoxication, and
metabolic disorders. Treatment consists of correcting any
underlying ocular or neurologic causes of the nystagmus,
if possible. In congenital nystagmus, the involuntary eye
movements may be lessened by eyeglasses fitted with
prisms or possibly by surgery to change the resting posi-
tion of the eyes. Many people with nystagmus function
well and do not require treatment.
Defects of Light and Colour Perception

Defective vision under reduced illumination may reflect
the congenital or hereditary condition known as retinitis
pigmentosa or may be acquired as a result of severe defi-
ciency of vitamin A.
Defective colour vision affects men more often than
women. Total colour blindness is extremely rare and is
nearly always associated with poor vision in ordinary light
and with nystagmus. Individuals who are partially colour-
defective, such as those with red-green colour blindness,
may not be aware of the disability until special instru-
ments are used to test the person’s ability to distinguish
between hues in one or another part of the visible light
spectrum. With these less-severe colour deficiencies,
other visual functions are usually normal.
Retinitis Pigmentosa
Retinitis pigmentosa is a group of hereditary eye dis-
eases in which progressive degeneration of the retina
leads to severe impairment of vision. In the usual course
190
of disease, the light-sensitive structures called rods—

which are the visual receptors used in dim light—are
destroyed early on, causing night blindness in youth. Over
time, further atrophy of the retina and changes in the layer
of supporting cells known as the pigment epithelium
occur. Commonly the field of vision becomes constricted
until the affected person sees objects as if looking
through a tunnel.
In most cases, the course of disease is very slow, and
progression to total blindness is uncommon. There are
several hereditary patterns for retinitis pigmentosa, and
multiple genetic defects responsible for the various forms
of disease have been isolated. Treatment is largely sup-
portive and aimed at optimizing remaining vision. There
are several types of therapy under development for the
treatment of retinitis pigmentosa. Among the most prom-
ising of these therapies are retinal implants, which have
demonstrated some ability to restore perception of light
and dark in several blind patients. A retinal implant con-
sists of an electrode implanted at the back of the eye that
receives signals from a transmitter and camera embedded
in a pair of eyeglasses. When the electrode receives a sig-
nal, it generates an electrical response that stimulates the
optic nerve, sending impulses to the brain and thereby
enabling the perception of light patterns.
When retinitis pigmentosa is associated with congeni-
tal hearing loss, the condition is called Usher syndrome,
which is the most common cause of combined blindness
and deafness in the United States.
Night Blindness
Night blindness, also called nyctalopia, results from the
failure of the eye to adapt promptly from light to darkness
and is characterized by a reduced ability to see in dim light
or at night. It occurs as a symptom of numerous
191
congenital and inherited retinal diseases or as a result of

vitamin A deficiency.
Congenital night blindness with or without myopia
(nearsightedness) occurs either as a dominant, recessive,
or sex-linked hereditary trait and usually remains stable
throughout life. Night blindness developing during child-
hood or adolescence may be an early sign of retinitis
pigmentosa. Vitamin A deficiency, which causes reduced
photosensitivity of rhodopsin (a chromoprotein) in rod
cells, causes night blindness that is usually not severe, and
vision most often recovers when adequate levels of the
vitamin are administered.
Colour Blindness
The inability to distinguish one or more of the three
colours red, green, and blue is known as colour blindness.
Most people with colour-vision problems have a weak
colour-sensing system rather than a frank loss of colour
sensation. In the retina, humans have three types of cones.
One type absorbs light best in wavelengths of blue-violet
and another in the wavelengths of green. The third type is
most sensitive to longer wavelengths—more sensitive to
red. Colour-blind persons may be blind to one, two, or all
of the colours red, green, and blue. (Blindness to red is
called protanopia; to green, deuteranopia; and to blue,
tritanopia.) Red-blind persons are ordinarily unable to dis-
tinguish between red and green, while blue-blind persons
cannot distinguish between blue and yellow. Green-blind
persons are unable to see the green part of the spectrum.
Hereditary red-green colour blindness, which affects
about 20 times as many males as females, is a sex-linked
recessive characteristic. A woman must inherit the trait
from both parents to be red-green colour-blind. A red-
green colour-blind man and a woman of normal colour
vision have daughters who have normal colour vision but
192
are carriers of the trait—that is, the daughters may have

red-green colour-blind sons and daughters who are carri-
ers. The sons of a red-green colour-blind man and a woman
with normal vision who themselves have normal vision are
unable to pass the red-green colour-blind trait on to off-
spring. The son of a normal man and a carrier woman may
be red-green colour-blind, and the daughter of such a
union may be a carrier. Thus, red-green colour blindness
tends to skip generations.
Acquired colour blindness is usually of the blue-yellow
type and can be due to retinal diseases, glaucoma, or optic
nerve diseases. Total colour blindness (achromatopsia) is
an extremely rare congenital affliction that is typically
associated with poor vision, nystagmus, and light
sensitivity.
Eyestrain
Eyestrain, or asthenopia, is the term used to describe sub-
jective symptoms of fatigue, discomfort, lacrimation
(tearing), and headache following the use of the eyes. Such
symptoms may result from intensive, prolonged close
work. In people with perfectly normal eyes, eyestrain may
indicate abnormalities of muscle balance or refractive
errors. Eyestrain is more likely to be manifest during peri-
ods of fatigue or stress and is common among students
studying for examinations. Refractive errors require cor-
rection, and muscle imbalance may require treatment.
Psychological factors can be more important to address
than physical factors.
Refractive Errors
In a normal eye, rays of light from distant objects come to
a focus on the retina. In near vision the refractive power of
193
the eye is increased by altering the shape of the lens (i.e.,

causing it to become thicker) to focus the image on the
retina. This ability to alter the shape of the lens decreases
with age until fine print cannot be read at a normal read-
ing distance. This condition is known as presbyopia and
usually becomes increasingly problematic after age 40. It
is corrected by the use of convex lenses for reading.
In some eyes, rays of light from distant objects are not
brought to a focus on the retina but are focused on a plane
in front of the retina, as in myopia (nearsightedness), or
behind the retina, as in hyperopia (farsightedness). In
myopia, near objects are brought into focus on the retina
but distant objects can be seen clearly only with the aid of
concave lenses. In hyperopia, distant objects can some-
times be brought into focus by using the accommodative
power of the lens, and in young people there is usually suf-
ficient accommodation to enable them to see close up as
well. The constant accommodative effort required, how-
ever, may result in problems such as asthenopia or
esotropia, and the necessity for accommodating for dis-
tance can be overcome by wearing convex glasses.
Another type of refractive error is astigmatism. In this
condition the refractive power of the eye varies in differ-
ent axes, depending on the path the light takes through
the cornea. This is due to the presence of nonuniform cor-
neal curvature and results in the distortion of vision at all
viewing distances. Astigmatism is a common condition
and can be corrected with the use of cylindrical lenses in
eyeglasses or contact lenses.
In general, refractive errors are easily corrected with
glasses and are rarely accompanied by any serious disease
of the eyes. However, hyperopia is a factor in the develop-
ment of some kinds of strabismus and vision loss
(amblyopia) in children, and high degrees of myopia may
194
be associated with serious degenerative changes within

the eye, particularly the retina.
Presbyopia
The loss of ability to focus the eye sharply on near objects
as a result of the decreasing elasticity of the lens of the eye
is known as presbyopia. The eye’s ability to focus on near
and far objects—the power of accommodation—depends
upon two forces, the elasticity of the lens of the eye and
the action of the ciliary muscle (a roughly ring-shaped
muscle that encircles the lens and is attached to it by sus-
pensory ligaments). When the ciliary muscle is relaxed,
the ring enlarges away from the lens and the suspensory
ligaments are tautened, flattening the lens into a shape
suitable for viewing distant objects. When the muscle
contracts, the ligaments are loosened, and, because of the
elasticity of the lens, the surface of the lens—particularly
the front surface—becomes more curved, in keeping with
viewing near objects. Ordinarily the lens gradually
becomes less elastic (it hardens) with age, so the power of
accommodation is lost progressively. The loss is most
rapid after age 40, when most people become aware of dif-
ficulty in performing a task, such as reading, that requires
near focusing; this can be helped with corrective lenses.
Accommodation may also be lost temporarily as a
result of paralysis of the ciliary muscle. With this paraly-
sis, which can occur from the action of certain toxins and
medications, the muscle cannot contract, and the surface
of the lens is prevented from becoming more convex.
Nearsightedness
Myopia, also called nearsightedness, is a visual abnormality
in which the resting eye focuses the image of a distant object
at a point in front of the retina, resulting in a blurred image.
195
Myopia, or nearsightedness, can be corrected with glasses that have concave

lenses to allow near objects to be brought into focus by the eye. Encyclopædia
Britannica, Inc.
Myopic eyes, which are usually longer than normal from

front to rear, are somewhat more susceptible to retinal
detachment than are normal or farsighted eyes. Severe myo-
pia can be associated with other eye problems as well, most
of which affect the retina or the choroid (i.e., pathologic
blood vessel growth from the choroid).
Hyperopia, or farsightedness, can be corrected with glasses that contain con-

vex lenses to reduce the accommodative effort required for the eye to bring an
object into focus. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
196
Myopia can be corrected by concave lenses. Today,

however, the use of LASIK (laser-assisted in situ ker-
atomileusis) surgery has become common. LASIK
surgery is often preferred to photorefractive keratectomy
(PRK), another type of laser-based surgery used to reshape
the cornea.
Farsightedness
Hyperopia, also called farsightedness, is a refractive error
or abnormality in which the cornea and lens of the eye
focus the image of the visual field at an imaginary point
behind the retina. The retina thus receives an unfocused
image of near objects, though distant objects may be in
focus. Hyperopia frequently occurs when an eye is shorter
than normal from front to rear; the lens is then unable to
increase its convexity sufficiently to focus the images of
close objects onto the retina. Corrective lenses for hyper-
opia are designed to supply the additional convexity
needed for focusing. Hyperopic laser in situ keratomileu-
sis (H-LASIK) and photorefractive keratectomy for
hyperopia (H-PRK) are common surgical methods that
reshape the cornea to improve vision in hyperopic
patients.
Astigmatism
Astigmatism is a nonuniform curvature of the cornea that
causes the eye to focus images at different distances,
depending on the orientation of light as it strikes the cor-
nea. The effect of astigmatism can also be produced by
abnormalities or misalignment of the crystalline lens
(sometimes called lenticular astigmatism), although this
is rare. The portions of the image that are not focused
on the retina (the light-sensitive tissue lining the inside of
the eyeball) appear blurred. Astigmatism occurs indepen-
dent of the existence of nearsightedness or farsightedness.
197
Astigmatism results from a nonuniform curvature of the cornea that produces

distorted vision. This condition is often corrected with eyeglasses or contact
lenses that contain a cylindrical lens. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
This condition usually can be corrected through a pre-

cisely designed lens (eyeglasses or some forms of contact
lenses) that counteracts the underlying corneal asymme-
try. Refractive surgery is also capable of correcting limited
amounts of astigmatism in some situations.
A troublesome form of astigmatism, “irregular” astig-
matism, can be caused by corneal scars and certain corneal
diseases and is sometimes seen after corneal transplant. If
significant, visual impairment from irregular astigmatism can
be difficult to treat, although rigid contact lenses may help.
Vision loss and eye

misalignment
Blindness
Blindness is a transient or permanent inability to see any
light at all (total blindness) or to retain any useful vision
198
despite attempts at vision enhancement (functional

blindness). Less-severe levels of vision impairment have
been categorized, ranging from near-normal vision to
various degrees of low vision to near-blindness, depending
on the visual acuity and functional impact stemming
from the vision loss. Legal blindness is a government-
defined term that determines eligibility for various
services or benefits as well as restrictions on certain
activities such as driving.
Specific causes of impaired vision are too numerous
to list. In general, any process that causes malfunction of
the retina, the optic nerve, or the visual centres and path-
ways of the brain can reduce vision. In severe cases,
blindness may result. Broad categories of conditions that
impair vision include infections (e.g., gonorrhea or con-
genital rubella infection), inflammations (e.g., uveitis),
congenital or hereditary diseases (e.g., retinitis pigmen-
tosa), tumours, cataracts, trauma or mechanical injury,
metabolic and nutritional disorders, glaucoma, vascular
damage (e.g., diabetic eye disease or atherosclerosis), and
refractive errors (e.g., nearsightedness or farsightedness).
In addition, there are many vision-lowering conditions
for which there is no well-understood cause (e.g., age-
related macular degeneration).
Many other potentially blinding disorders do not fit
easily into general categories. Few of these conditions,
however, lead to total blindness, and many of them have
some form of available treatment. Even when the underly-
ing problem cannot be corrected, multiple low-vision aids
have been developed to optimize remaining vision. In
cases of functional or total blindness, other senses and
skills must be emphasized or developed. In addition, a
strong psychosocial support system can greatly enhance
a person’s ability to cope with vision loss.
199
Double Vision
Double vision, also called diplopia, is the perception of

two images of a single object. Normal binocular vision
results from the brain’s fusion of slightly different images
from each eye, with points on the retina of each eye cor-
responding to points on the retina of the opposite eye.
Binocular diplopia occurs when the eyes are not properly
aligned, and the image of an object that projects onto one
retina does not fall spatially to the matching point on the
other retina. In such a situation, the double image is
eliminated when either eye is covered. It is commonly
caused by temporary or permanent paralysis or restriction
of one or more of the external eye muscles. The orienta-
tion of the double image is determined by the particular
muscle (sometimes more than one muscle) that is not
working properly.
Causes of binocular diplopia include myasthenia gra-
vis, inflammatory processes, thyroid eye disease (Graves
ophthalmopathy), small blood vessel disease (e.g., diabe-
tes mellitus), trauma, infections, and various tumours.
These processes usually induce diplopia by impairing the
external eye muscles themselves or the nerves that directly
or indirectly control their function. However, an underly-
ing cause of diplopia is not always found. Frank
displacement of the eyeball, via large orbital fractures or a
mass pressing on the eyeball, can also cause double vision.
The treatment for binocular double vision varies
depending on the cause, severity, and duration. Many cases
of diplopia resolve on their own and require only tempo-
rary patching of one eye to eliminate the offending second
image. People with permanent diplopia may benefit from
prisms placed in eyeglasses or from surgical realignment
of the eyes. Of course, treatment of underlying diseases or
injuries is also essential.
200
Misalignment of the eyes in early childhood is a

special situation. It usually does not result in symptom-
atic diplopia, as the child’s developing brain suppresses
the second image. Without correction, this often leads
to amblyopia and permanent vision loss in the “sup-
pressed” eye.
Monocular diplopia differs from binocular diplopia in
that the double vision remains present when the nonaf-
fected eye is covered. Monocular diplopia is due to
abnormalities in the structure of the eyeball itself, most
notably the lens and cornea. Treatment is directed at cor-
recting the abnormality.
Ophthalmoplegia
Ophthalmoplegia, also called extraocular muscle palsy,
occurs as a result of paralysis of the extraocular muscles
that control the movements of the eye. Ophthalmoplegia
usually involves the third (oculomotor), fourth (trochlear),
or sixth (abducens) cranial nerves. Double vision is the
characteristic symptom in all three cases. In oculomotor
paralysis the muscles controlling the eye are affected in
such a way that the eye drifts outward and slightly down-
ward and has difficulty turning inward and upward. In
addition, the upper eyelid of the affected eye usually
droops, a condition called ptosis, and the pupil may be
enlarged. If the pupil is abnormally large, the possibility of
a cerebral aneurysm arises. This can be associated with
pain. Trochlear paralysis, involving another muscle, the
superior oblique, causes a vertical deviation of the affected
eye. Abducens nerve paralysis affects still another ocular
muscle, the lateral rectus, such that the affected eye turns
inward toward the nose and cannot fully turn outward.
Ophthalmoplegia can be caused by congenital abnor-
malities, trauma, complications of viral infections, or
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There are 12 pairs of cranial nerves that function to control the muscles
and sense organs of the head and thoracic region. Several of these, includ-
ing the third, fourth, and sixth nerves, control muscles that move the eye.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
disorders that affect the nervous system, including

multiple sclerosis, cerebral tumours, migraines, and vas-
cular (blood vessel) disease such as that associated with
diabetes. Ophthalmoplegia can also occur as a complica-
tion of muscle disorders such as myasthenia gravis,
although it is usually associated with other muscular
symptoms.
Treatment of ophthalmoplegia is directed at correct-
ing any underlying disorders, if possible. In many cases,
isolated nerve palsies resolve on their own over time, and
treatment consists of patching the affected eye to allevi-
ate any transient double vision. Eyeglasses fitted with
prisms or surgical intervention may be helpful for people
with long-standing ophthalmoplegia.
202
Amblyopia
Amblyopia is a reduction in vision in one or both eyes

due to abnormal visual experience in early childhood.
Amblyopia can lead to functional changes in the visual
centres of the brain. These changes result from eye-related
problems that degrade or distort images received by the
brain. The most common causes are misalignment of the
eyes (strabismus) and uncorrected (usually asymmetric)
refractive errors (e.g., farsightedness, nearsightedness, or
astigmatism). Other conditions that affect the clarity of
vision, such as congenital cataracts, can also cause ambly-
opia. In each of these situations the brain receives inferior
or inappropriate visual information, which it suppresses
over time.
If left untreated, these changes within the visual cen-
tres of the brain will become permanent and lead to
irreversible vision deficits. Fortunately, this outcome is
usually avoidable or reversible during early childhood by
promptly correcting the underlying eye problem (remov-
ing the cataract or prescribing eyeglasses) or forcing
the use of the weaker eye, often by carefully covering the
stronger eye with a patch. However, despite the availabil-
ity of effective treatments, amblyopia remains a major
cause of childhood-onset reduced vision. Vision screening
is an essential means of identifying children at risk of
developing amblyopia.
Strabismus
Misalignment of the eyes is called strabismus, or squint.
The deviant eye may be directed inward toward the other
eye (cross-eye, or esotropia), outward, away from the
other eye (exotropia), upward (hypertropia), or downward
203
(hypotropia). The deviation is called “concomitant” if it

remains constant in all directions of gaze and “incomi-
tant” if the degree of misalignment varies with the
direction of gaze.
Strabismus can be present all the time, intermittently,
or brought out only by special testing. Congenital, or
infantile, strabismus appears in infancy and is presumably
due to defects present at birth that are poorly understood.
However, given the strong tendency for strabismus to run
in families, the causes undoubtedly have some genetic
component. While congenital strabismus is more com-
mon in children with birth-related problems, most
affected children are otherwise neurologically normal.
Acquired strabismus appears later in life and has many
potential etiologies. For example, acquired strabismus can
be due to diseases or trauma affecting the actual muscles
responsible for moving the eye or the nerves or brain stem
centres controlling those muscles. In addition, poor vision
in one or both eyes can lead to sensory strabismus, in
which the eye with the poorest vision drifts slightly over
time. In children, a common contributor to acquired stra-
bismus is farsightedness (hyperopia), which, when severe
enough, can secondarily cause the eyes to cross as the child
tries to focus on an object (accommodative esotropia).
The chief danger of strabismus in early childhood is
monocular vision loss, or amblyopia, a condition that can
become permanent if not treated promptly. If the brain
receives two separate images because of the presence of a
consistently deviating eye, the less-used eye may develop
amblyopia as a result of suppression of the unwanted sec-
ond image. Often in the treatment of strabismus, the
preferred (“better-seeing”) eye is patched for a period of
time to encourage the child to use the “weaker” eye and
thereby improve the weaker eye’s vision. Patching therapy
204
is effective at younger ages but is generally not useful in

older teenagers and adults. Thus, early identification and
treatment of amblyopia are critical.
Depending on the situation, important nonsurgical
treatments for strabismus may include correcting any
underlying nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness
(hyperopia), or astigmatism with eyeglasses or fitting
glasses with prisms. However, definitive treatment com-
monly requires surgical manipulation of one or more
muscles that control eye movement in an effort to realign
the two eyes.
Ocular injuries
The bony orbit provides excellent protection for the eye,
especially from blunt injuries. A blow to the front of the
orbit with a rounded instrument such as a fist or a tennis
ball, however, can cause a shock wave to travel through
the eye, damaging many structures along the way, includ-
ing the retina. Central vision may be reduced after such
injuries without any obvious changes in the appearance of
the eye. In severe cases the bones of the orbit may be frac-
tured. Perforating wounds from glass, sharp metal
fragments, and so on are always serious. Injuries to the
lens can result in the formation of a cataract, and often
after penetrating injuries the eye remains inflamed for a
considerable time.
One rare type of inflammation following injury,
called sympathetic ophthalmia, is of particular impor-
tance. In this condition an injured eye causes the other,
previously normal eye to take part in the inflammation,
with resulting impairment of vision. Sympathetic oph-
thalmia can occur weeks, months, or years after the
initial injury. The cause of sympathetic ophthalmia is not
205
fully known, but if an injured eye is removed within 10

days of injury, sympathetic ophthalmia almost never
occurs in the other eye. In the past there was little effec-
tive treatment for the condition, but therapy with
corticosteroids and other immunomodulatory agents
has proved effective in controlling inflammation in
many cases.
Foreign bodies
Most foreign bodies that contact the eye remain on or
near the surface. When they touch the cornea, they cause
intense pain and a flow of tears. The tears may be suffi-
cient to wash the foreign body out of the eye, but, if it
becomes embedded in the cornea, it may have to be
removed surgically. Many small foreign bodies lodge in the
undersurface of the upper lid in such a way that every time
the eye blinks, the foreign body rubs on the cornea, caus-
ing pain and irritation. Metallic foreign bodies embedded
in the cornea often leave rust rings, which should be
removed to aid in proper healing.
Small foreign bodies traveling at high speeds may pen-
etrate into the interior of the eye with remarkably few
symptoms, and their presence may not be recognized
until weeks or months later when inflammatory changes
occur. The most common foreign bodies to enter the eye
in this way are fragments of metal from hammer-and-
chisel accidents or from moving parts of machinery.
Whenever such injuries are suspected, it is important to
locate the position of the fragment as carefully as possible
and to remove it by surgery. If the foreign body is mag-
netic, a magnet can be used to attract the foreign body to
the site of entry into the eye, permitting extraction. Safety
goggles or glasses equipped with safety lenses are of
206
utmost importance in the prevention of such accidents

during high-risk activities.
Chemical and radiation

injuries
Strong acids and alkalis cause severe injury if they contact
the eye. Alkalis, such as lye, ammonia, and lime, are par-
ticularly damaging in that they tend to rapidly melt and
penetrate the cornea, producing extensive tissue destruc-
tion within the eye. Speed is the vital factor in first-aid
treatment, and copious irrigation with water is the first
essential step. Delay of first-aid treatment in the hope of
finding a neutralizing substance is a serious error, as strong
acids and alkalis quickly become bound to the ocular tis-
sues and cause severe damage.
Except for extremely intense light, such as that from a
laser or from prolonged staring at the Sun, the visible
wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum—i.e., visi-
ble light rays—rarely cause ocular injury. Retinal damage
from staring at the Sun causes visual impairment that
often improves after months, although residual deficits
can remain. Ultraviolet light (UV), however, is strongly
absorbed by the cornea surface and is the cause of a condi-
tion known as snow blindness (so called because it can
occur in skiers from UV light reflected off snow) and a
closely related condition called arc eye (also called weld-
er’s flash; caused by the intense flash of UV light produced
when using a welding rod). Symptoms, consisting of
intense pain and copious flow of tears, may not occur until
some time after exposure. Treatment consists of tempo-
rary eye patching and application of cold compresses and
soothing artificial lubricants to the eye. Usually the eyes
recover without any permanent damage.
207
Extensive exposure to ionizing radiation, without ade-

quate protection for the eyes, can cause cataract formation
as well as corneal and conjunctival damage. The lens is
also susceptible to X-rays, and the eyes require shielding
when therapeutic irradiation is used for growths around
or near the eye.
Complications of systemic
disease
The Central Nervous System

Since the optic nerve and retina are, embryonically, an
extension of the brain, it is not surprising that central ner-
vous system diseases frequently affect the eye. As a result,
visual defects may be the earliest evidence of general ner-
vous system disease. The nerve supply to the ocular
muscles, particularly the extraocular muscles, may also be
involved early in some diseases of the central nervous sys-
tem. This will result in defective movement of the eyes,
causing lack of coordination between the two eyes and
diplopia, or double vision.
The nerve fibres that connect the retina with the site
of primary visual sensation in the occipital cortex (part of
the occipital lobe, located in the rear of the brain) travel
across the brain in a regular pattern, and many lesions of
the brain, such as tumours, impinge on part of this path-
way. From a detailed examination of the sensitivity of
different parts of the retina (visual field testing), it is often
possible to localize the site of an intracranial lesion. A fre-
quent first symptom of multiple sclerosis is sudden onset
of loss of central vision in one eye caused by optic neuri-
tis. Detailed ophthalmic examination is therefore essential
208
in any patient suspected of having disease of the central

nervous system.
Arteriosclerosis and Hypertension

The eye is the one structure in the body in which the blood
vessels are easily visible to the examiner. Changes observed
in the retinal vessels mirror changes that are taking place
in other parts of the body, particularly those in the brain.
In arteriosclerosis, degenerative changes occur in the walls
of arteries that lead to thickening of arterial walls and nar-
rowing of blood vessels and may give rise to complete
occlusion (blockage) of a vessel. If the central retinal
artery that supplies blood to the inner retina is affected,
loss of vision is profound and sudden and, unless the
obstruction can be relieved right away, permanent.
Occlusion of the retinal veins is more common than arte-
rial occlusion and also has dramatic effects caused by the
damming up of blood in the eye. Blockage of retinal veins
results in the bursting of small vessels, retinal swelling,
and multiple hemorrhages scattered over the retina. Some
degree of recovery of vision is usual but depends on
whether a branch of the central vein or the central vein
itself is occluded.
Vascular hypertension, or raised blood pressure, usu-
ally occurs in association with arteriosclerosis. Typical
changes can be recognized in the small vessels of the fun-
dus (the back portion of the interior of the eyeball). In
severe cases, multiple hemorrhages, exudates (leaking pro-
teinaceous fluid), and swelling of the optic disk (the head of
the optic nerve) may be present. As with arteriosclerosis,
hypertension can lead to vascular occlusions of the retina.
The presence of hypertension typically worsens the effects
of diabetic eye disease in patients having both afflictions.
209
Diabetes
Diabetic eye disease is a major cause of vision loss and

blindness. It occurs more commonly with increasing dura-
tion of the disease and increasing patient age. People with
advanced diabetic retinal disease are at increased risk of
heart, kidney, and peripheral vascular disease. The actual
cause of the changes in the retinal vessels is not clear, but
the natural history of the disease is well recognized. Two
general types of diabetic eye disease are known and are
characterized as nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy
(which lacks abnormal blood vessel growth) and prolifera-
tive diabetic retinopathy (in which abnormal blood vessels
are present in the retina and sometimes the iris). Each
type possesses different levels of severity, although one
common cause of vision loss in diabetes, macular edema,
can occur in either type at any level of severity.
Nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy features changes
due to damaged, weakened blood vessels, in which tiny
aneurysms form and small hemorrhages and swelling
within the retina can be seen. Areas of retinas that no lon-
ger receive appropriate blood flow, a condition called
ischemia, can also appear. Visual loss at this stage may be
absent or caused by retinal swelling or ischemia. If
unchecked, nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy can lead
to worsened blood flow to the retina, more severe damage,
and the appearance of new abnormal blood vessels on the
optic disk, retina, and even iris (proliferative diabetic reti-
nopathy). Changes in these abnormal vessels can cause
hemorrhage into the vitreous cavity, retinal detachment,
and glaucoma.
Prevention or control of diabetic retinopathy relies on
control of blood glucose levels. Various types of laser pho-
tocoagulation of the retina are used in certain forms of
diabetic retinopathy in an attempt to halt or slow its
210
progression. In cases of retinal detachment or persistent or

recurrent hemorrhage within the vitreous gel, more exten-
sive surgical treatments are employed. Glaucoma stemming
from diabetic eye disease is often difficult to treat, but
both medical and surgical approaches can be attempted.
Thyroid Disease
Graves ophthalmopathy (an eye disease related to thyroid
dysfunction) usually occurs in people with hyperthyroid-
ism, although it can occur in people with normal or even
reduced thyroid function. It is characterized by swelling
and inflammation of the orbital tissues, including the
extraocular muscles, that may lead to retraction of the
eyelids, restriction of eye movement (causing double
vision), and bulging forward of the eyeball (called exoph-
thalmos, or proptosis). Although exophthalmos arises
primarily from inflammation, the associated processes of
cellular proliferation and accumulation of fluid in the tis-
sues that surround the eyeball in its socket, or orbit, also
are important pathological processes underlying its devel-
opment. The swelling of tissues in Graves ophthalmopathy
can also cause pressure on the optic nerve behind the eye-
ball, leading to vision loss. In most uncomplicated
situations treatment is conservative, relying only on artifi-
cial lubrication, but in severe cases the lids may need to be
partially sutured together or surgery may be required to
relieve pressure in the orbit. Further eye muscle and lid
surgeries may also be needed to correct persistent eye
problems related to Graves ophthalmopathy.
Exophthalmos
In addition to Graves ophthalmopathy, other causes of
exophthalmos include other orbital inflammatory
211
conditions, spread of infection from the paranasal sinuses

or teeth, trauma, various orbital tumours, and vascular
(blood vessel) abnormalities of the orbit. It should also be
noted that “prominent” eyes can be a normal inherited
trait in certain families.
Exophthalmos often leads to increased exposure of
the eye surface, which can produce irritation and redness.
Other symptoms or findings that can coincide with exoph-
thalmos include eyelid swelling or retraction, deep orbital
pain, and double vision. In severe cases, vision can be
threatened from exposure-induced cornea damage or
compression of the optic nerve within the orbit. Treatment
of symptomatic exophthalmos is directed at correcting
any underlying disorders (e.g., hyperthyroidism), as well as
providing lubrication of the eye surface, if necessary.
Persistent exophthalmos from Graves ophthalmopathy
can be managed with medication, surgery, or radiation
therapy. Vision loss or vision-threatening changes associ-
ated with exophthalmos require prompt intervention.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
The ocular complications of rheumatoid arthritis
involve the sclera and cornea and can cause dry eye.
Inflammation of the sclera, called scleritis, can cause
intense, boring pain and, if severe, could be associated
with life-threatening systemic disease. Treatment varies,
depending on the disease severity, but generally includes
anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating agents.
212
CHAPTER9
DIAGNOSIS
AND TREATMENT
OF EYE DISEASES
T he modern field of ophthalmology was borne from

centuries of observation and discovery that eventu-
ally became grounded in scientific knowledge. A significant
advance in the understanding and diagnosis of eye dis-
eases was the development in the 19th century of the
ophthalmoscope, an instrument for inspecting the inte-
rior of the eye. With this device, ophthalmologists could
readily examine the retina and its blood vessels, thereby
obtaining valuable information about the inner eye and
eye diseases.
Since the development of the ophthalmoscope, a num-
ber of important advances in the diagnosis and treatment
of eye diseases have occurred. Included among these
advances are eye exams, treatments, and eye banks to store
corneas for transplants. Ophthalmologists also have
designed tests for visual function that enable them to
more precisely identify and diagnose eye diseases. In addi-
tion, today there exist several different types of corrective
lenses and surgeries tailored for the treatment of specific
visual disorders. These treatments have successfully
restored vision to normal or near-normal in countless peo-
ple worldwide.
OphThalmOlOgy
Ophthalmology is the medical specialty dealing with the
diagnosis and treatment of diseases and disorders of
213
Phoropter used during an eye examination. U.S. Navy (Image Number:

040305-N-4190W-001)
the eye. The first ophthalmologists were known as ocu-

lists. These paramedical specialists practiced on an
itinerant basis during the Middle Ages. Georg Bartisch, a
German physician who wrote on eye diseases in the 16th
century, is sometimes credited with founding the medical
practice of ophthalmology. Many important eye opera-
tions were first developed by oculists, as, for example, the
surgical correction of strabismus, first performed in 1738.
The first descriptions of visual defects included those of
glaucoma (1750), night blindness (1767), colour blindness
(1794), and astigmatism (1801).
The first formal course in ophthalmology was taught
at the medical school of the University of Göttingen in
1803, and the first medical eye clinic with an emphasis on
214
7 Diagnosis and Treatment of Eye Diseases 7
teaching, the London Eye Infirmary, was opened in 1805,

initiating the modern specialty. Advances in optics by the
Dutch physician Frans Cornelis Donders in 1864 estab-
lished the modern system of prescribing and fitting
eyeglasses to a particular vision problem. The invention of
the ophthalmoscope for looking at the interior of the eye
created the possibility of relating eye defects to internal
medical conditions.
In the 20th century, advances in the field chiefly
involved the prevention of eye disease through regular eye
examinations and the early treatment of congenital
eye defects. Another major development was the eye
bank, first established in 1944 in New York, which made
corneal tissues for transplantation more generally avail-
able. Other 20th-century advances included the
refinement of contact lenses and the development of cor-
rective surgeries such as LASIK (laser-assisted in situ
keratomileusis).
Ophthalmologists are concerned with whatever
adversely affects vision, whether such adverse events are
caused by faulty development of the eye, disease, injury,
degeneration, senescence, or refraction. An ophthalmolo-
gist performs tests of visual function and examines the
interior of the eye as part of a general physical examina-
tion for symptoms of systemic or neurologic diseases. He
or she also prescribes medical treatment for eye diseases
and glasses for refraction and performs surgical opera-
tions where indicated.
Optometry
Optometry is a health-care profession concerned with
examining the eyes for defects of vision and diagnosing
and treating such conditions. Optometrists prescribe and
supply eyeglasses, contact lenses, and other optical aids
215
that correct the focusing of the eyes. They also examine

the eyes to detect such disorders as glaucoma and cata-
racts. In addition, optometrists counsel people on the
correct use and care of the eyes, supervise exercise and
training programs that are designed to treat problems of
vision, and help rehabilitate patients who have low or
severely restricted vision. Unlike the ophthalmologist,
who is a physician with a specialization in the diagnosis
and treatment of eye diseases (and who may also test
vision and prescribe corrective lenses), the optometrist
generally is not trained to perform surgery. In some areas,
however, optometrists are licensed to use topical thera-
peutic drugs and to treat glaucoma and other eye diseases
with systemic drugs.
Requirements for the practice of optometry vary. In
the United States professional optometrists must complete
a four-year course of study in addition to two to four years
of undergraduate work and must be licensed by the state
in which they practice. Schools of optometry are accred-
ited nationally by the Council on Optometric Education
and grant the Doctor of Optometry (O.D.) degree.
The optician, another optical specialist, makes, fits,
and sells optical devices, particularly the corrective lenses
prescribed by optometrists and ophthalmologists.
Ophthalmoscope
The ophthalmoscope is an instrument for inspecting the
interior of the eye. It was invented in 1850 by German sci-
entist and philosopher Hermann von Helmholtz. The
ophthalmoscope became a model for later forms of endos-
copy. The device consists of a strong light that can be
directed into the eye by a small mirror or prism. The light
reflects off the retina and back through a small hole in the
216
ophthalmoscope, through which the examiner sees a non-

stereoscopic magnified image of the structures at the back
of the eye, including the optic disk, retina, retinal blood
vessels, macula, and choroid. The ophthalmoscope is par-
ticularly useful as a screening tool for various ocular
diseases, such as diabetic retinopathy.
Ophthalmological Examination
An ophthalmological examination includes a thorough
history, with a particular focus on a patient’s symptoms.
The ophthalmologist physically examines the eyes with
special devices and does various tests to determine visual
function. The most important subjective test is for
visual acuity. This is usually performed by having the
patient read, from a set distance, an eye chart with a series
of letters of graded sizes, which become increasingly
smaller as the chart is read from top to bottom. The
person is asked to read the lowest line legible, and visual
acuity is then expressed in terms of the size of the letter
and the distance at which it is read, relative to a person
with normal vision.
The visual field can be assessed by many methods. The
confrontation visual field exam is the most basic test and
involves a simple assessment of peripheral vision. In this
test one eye of the patient is covered, the ophthalmologist
presents one or more fingers in the peripheral visual field,
and the patient indicates the number of fingers displayed.
The Goldmann visual field exam is another manual test, in
which the patient focuses straight ahead on a central point
while an object is moved inward from the periphery. The
ophthalmologist performs this several times, testing dif-
ferent areas of the visual field and drawing a map of the
visual field for each eye. Another technique, called
217
automated perimetry, uses a bowl-shaped instrument into

which the patient looks, focusing on a central point. The
instrument sends out random computer-generated flashes
of light of varying durations, intensities, and locations
that may or may not be within the patient’s visual field.
When the patient sees a flash, he or she presses a button,
sending a signal that is automatically detected and incor-
porated into a map of the patient’s visual field. Automated
visual field testing is commonly used today, especially in
assessing glaucoma.
Other subjective examinations include colour vision
testing and tests of visual perception under reduced illu-
mination. Examination of the external eye and part of
the anterior segment is facilitated by the use of a binocu-
lar microscope attached to a slit lamp (a variable source
of light that projects the image of a slit onto the eye).
The direct and indirect ophthalmoscope has an
This eye care professional uses the high magnification of a slit lamp to examine
a patient’s eyes. National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health
218
illuminating system that lights up the interior of the eye

and a viewing system through which the fundus can be
observed. Photography of the anterior part of the eye and
of the fundus is also widely used.
Other specialized methods of examination include
examination of the angle of the anterior chamber by
means of a specially designed mirrored contact lens (goni-
olens), which is used in conjunction with the slit-lamp
microscope. The electrical responses of the retina and
brain to light entering the eye can also be recorded and are
of great value in certain conditions.
Estimation of the intraocular pressure is an important
part of an ophthalmological examination and is accom-
plished by an instrument called a tonometer. This
instrument is designed specifically to measure the tension
or pressure that exists within the eyeball. Many types of
tonometers are used, each of which has unique advantages
and disadvantages.
The refractive state of the eye can be measured objec-
tively or subjectively or by a combination of methods.
The simplest method is subjective, using lenses of dif-
ferent powers to give a trial-and-error estimate of the
best correcting lenses. More accurate results can be
obtained by using an instrument known as a retino-
scope, which gives an objective assessment of the
refraction that can subsequently be modified by subjec-
tive methods to suit the individual requirements of the
patient.
Many other tools are used to examine the eye and aid
in the diagnosis of eye diseases, including ultrasound, reti-
nal angiography, and devices to measure corneal curvature
and topography. New devices and techniques are con-
stantly being introduced, advancing the eye care specialist’s
ability to diagnose and treat eye disorders.
219
Optical aids
The most widely used optical aids are eyeglasses (specta-
cles), and the technical design of eyeglass lenses has
advanced considerably. A simple biconcave or biconvex
lens causes considerable vision distortion if objects are
viewed through the periphery of the lens, but, if the back
surface of the lens is made concave and the required power
is attained by altering the curvature of the front surface,
improvement in peripheral vision results. Modern eye-
glass lenses are of this form.
Most older people require an additional lens for read-
ing, which can be incorporated with the distance
correction in the form of a bifocal lens. In some occupa-
tions an intermediate distance is also required, and a third
segment can be added, forming a trifocal lens. The com-
plete range of correction from distance to near can be
achieved by means of a progressive lens, in which lens
power increases as the eye moves downward, with the
upper segment of the lens providing the correction for
distance and the lowest segment of the lens representing
the reading correction. By slightly tilting the head, it is
possible to find the optimum correction for intermediate
distances.
The distortion of peripheral view when using conven-
tional eyeglasses occurs because the correcting lens does
not move when the eye moves. This problem can be com-
pletely overcome by the use of contact lenses, which fit
the anterior surface of the cornea and thus move with the
eye. The earliest types were larger than the cornea and
were uncomfortable to wear, but the development of
smaller “hard” lenses greatly increased the scope and use-
fulness of contact lenses. Even so, the length of time for
which they could be worn was limited until rigid gas
(oxygen)-permeable lenses were introduced, which allow
220
oxygen to pass through to the cornea much more effec-

tively. Flexible “soft” lenses, made of water-absorbing
plastic gel, also allow oxygen to reach the surface of the
cornea reasonably well. The type of contact lens that best
suits an individual is dependent upon the refraction and
any coexisting corneal problems.
For those persons who cannot obtain useful vision
with ordinary eyeglasses or contact lenses, much can still
be done through the use of special lens systems known as
low-vision aids. These devices provide a magnified image
but reduce the visual field. Their main value is to enable a
person to read normal print that would otherwise be dif-
ficult to read. They can be of use for distance, particularly
when viewing conditions are relatively static, as with the
cinema, theatre, or television. Large-print materials, video
magnifiers, closed-circuit television, and optimal lighting
and contrast conditions are also of great benefit. For those
with profound or complete vision loss, enhancement of
other skills that help substitute for vision is crucial to
optimizing function.
Eyeglasses
Eyeglasses are lenses set in frames for wearing in front of
the eyes to aid vision or to correct such defects of vision as
myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. In 1268 English phi-
losopher and scientist Roger Bacon made the earliest
recorded comment on the use of lenses for optical pur-
poses, but magnifying lenses inserted in frames were used
for reading both in Europe and China at this time, and it is
a matter of controversy whether the West learned from
the East or vice versa. In Europe eyeglasses first appeared
in Italy, their introduction being attributed to Alessandro
di Spina of Florence. The first portrait to show eyeglasses
is that of Hugh of Provence by Tommaso da Modena,
221
painted in 1352. In 1480 Domenico Ghirlandaio painted

St. Jerome at a desk from which dangled eyeglasses;
as a result, St. Jerome became the patron saint of the
spectacle-makers’ guild. The earliest glasses had convex
lenses to aid farsightedness. A concave lens for myopia, or
nearsightedness, is first evident in the portrait of Pope
Leo X painted by Raphael in 1517.
In 1784 American author, scientist, and statesman
Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals, dividing his lenses
for distant and near vision, the split parts being held
together by the frame. Cemented bifocals were invented
in 1884, and the fused and one-piece types followed in
1908 and 1910, respectively. Trifocals and new designs
in bifocals were later introduced, including the Franklin
bifocal revived in one-piece form.
Originally, lenses were made of transparent quartz and
beryl, but increased demand led to the adoption of opti-
cal glass, for which Venice and Nürnberg were the chief
centres of production. In 1885 German physicist Ernst
Abbe and German chemist Otto Schott demonstrated
that the incorporation of new elements into the glass melt
led to many desirable variations in refractive index and
dispersive power. In the modern process, glass for lenses is
first rolled into plate form. Most lenses are made from
clear crown glass of refractive index 1.523. In high myopic
corrections, a cosmetic improvement is effected if the
lenses are made of dense flint glass (refractive index 1.69)
and coated with a film of magnesium fluoride to nullify
the surface reflections. Flint glass, or barium crown,
which has less dispersive power, is used in fused bifocals.
Plastic lenses have become increasingly popular, particu-
larly if the weight of the lenses is a problem, and plastic
lenses are more shatterproof than glass ones. In sun-
glasses, the lenses are tinted to reduce light transmission
and to avoid glare.
222
Contact Lenses
A contact lens is a thin, artificial lens worn on the surface

of the eye to correct refractive defects of vision. The first
contact lens, made of glass, was developed in 1887 by
German physiologist Adolf Fick to correct irregular astig-
matism. The early lenses, however, were uncomfortable
and could not be worn for long. Until the development of
optical instruments that could measure the curvature
of the cornea, the contact lens was made by taking an
impression of the eye and fashioning a lens on a mold.
Contact lenses most effectively neutralize visual
defects arising from irregular curvatures of the cornea.
They are the preferred treatment for some varieties of
astigmatism and aphakia (absence of the eye’s crystalline
lens). They also can be functionally and cosmetically
appealing substitutes for eyeglasses to treat myopia (near-
sightedness) and other visual defects.
In the mid-1900s, plastic-based contact lenses were
designed that rested on a cushion of tears on the cornea,
covering the area over the iris and pupil. These older hard-
plastic contact lenses had a limited wearing time because
of potential irritation of the cornea, and they required a
period of adaptation when first worn. Both front and back
surfaces of the hard contact lens are spherically curved,
altering refractive properties by changing the shape of
the tear film on the eye’s surface, which conforms to the
curve of the rear surface of the contact lens, and by a dif-
ference in curvature between the two surfaces of the lens
itself. In the 1970s, gas-permeable rigid contact lenses
were developed that allowed much more oxygen to pass
through to the corneal surface, thus increasing comfort
and wear time.
Also in the 1970s, larger “soft” lenses, made from a
water-absorbing plastic gel for greater flexibility, were
223
introduced. Soft contact lenses are usually comfortable

because they allow oxygen to penetrate to the eye’s sur-
face. Their large size makes them more difficult to lose
than hard lenses. Their delicacy, however, makes them
more subject to damage, and, as with all contact lenses,
they require careful maintenance. They are less effective
than hard lenses in treating astigmatism, because they
reflect the underlying corneal curvature more closely. In
2005 hybrid lenses were developed that are gas-permeable
and rigid and surrounded by a soft ring. These lenses pro-
vide the comfort of a soft lens with the visual sharpness of
a hard lens.
Contact lenses have particular advantages in treating
certain defects that can be corrected only partially by pre-
scription eyeglasses; for example, contact lenses avoid the
distortion of size that occurs with thick corrective lenses.
However, most contact lenses cannot be worn overnight,
as this significantly increases the risk of serious corneal
infections. Contact lenses can also be used in certain situ-
ations to protect the corneal surface during healing and to
relieve discomfort derived from corneal surface
problems.
Corrective surgery
LASIK
LASIK, or laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis, is a laser-
based eye surgery commonly used to correct nearsighted-
ness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. LASIK eye surgery
was developed in the early 1990s, when ophthalmologists
combined the technique of keratomileusis, in which the
cornea is removed, frozen, reshaped, and replaced, with
the technique of photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), in
224
which a laser is used to reshape the cornea. In the LASIK

procedure a hinged flap is made in the outer corneal tissue
and lifted out of the way to allow an excimer laser (an ultra-
violet chemical laser, also called an exciplex laser) to reshape
the underlying tissue. Tissue reshaping improves the eye’s
ability to focus light and thus relieves blurred vision and
reduces dependency on eyeglasses or contact lenses. The
natural adherence properties of the replaced corneal flap
negate the need for stitches. LASIK surgery is often pre-
ferred to photorefractive keratectomy.
Photorefractive Keratectomy
Photorefractive keratectomy, or PRK, is a common surgi-
cal method that reshapes the cornea to improve vision in
patients affected by farsightedness or nearsightedness.
In this procedure a local anesthetic is applied to the eye
and a laser beam is used to sculpt the cornea. Reshaping
enables the cornea to focus light on the retina, which it
cannot do in hyperopic or myopic eyes.
PRK differs from other laser-based eye surgeries such
as LASIK in that it is not an invasive surgery; no incisions
are made in the cornea during PRK. However, because a
significant amount of corneal tissue is damaged during the
reshaping process, the amount of time needed for recov-
ery following PRK is longer relative to LASIK. In addition,
patients often experience some discomfort during the
healing process. Improvement in vision is often notice-
able within several days after surgery, although optimal
vision may not occur for several months.
Radial Keratotomy
Radial keratotomy, or RK, is a surgical procedure to cor-
rect nearsightedness. The technique was first developed
225
by Russian eye surgeon Svyatoslav Nikolay Fyodorov in

the 1970s. In the 1980s and early 1990s, RK was a wide-
spread procedure for correcting nearsightedness, with
several hundred thousand procedures performed world-
wide. It has since been replaced by laser-based refractive
surgeries, such as PRK and LASIK, that offer improved
image quality and outcome predictability.
The cornea contributes approximately 66 percent of
the focusing power of the eye. In cases of nearsighted-
ness the focusing ability of the cornea is too strong,
resulting in blurred vision. RK reduces this focusing power
by surgically flattening the corneal curvature, resulting in
sharper vision. In the RK procedure the surgeon makes a
series of incisions in the cornea in a spokelike pattern. The
incision depth is approximately 90 percent of the corneal
thickness. A central “hub” is left uncut in the cornea. The
RK incisions emanate radially outward from this hub.
The incisions weaken the cornea’s mechanical strength,
resulting in a flattened shape and reduced refractive
power. Modulating the size of the hub and the number of
incisions controls the amount of corneal flattening. Side
effects of RK include progressive corneal flattening lead-
ing to farsightedness and starburst patterns attributed to
diffraction from the surgical scars encroaching on the
eye’s pupil.
226
CONCLUSION
T he human eye remains an important subject of mod-

ern science. In fact, the study of the human eye
encompasses a far more diverse area of research in the 21st
century than ever before. Molecular and cell biologists
continue to investigate the eye at its most basic level,
studying its cells and biochemical processes, to better
understand how all the components of the eye function
together. Likewise, doctors and scientists conducting
clinical research are developing new drugs and therapeu-
tic approaches to treat the numerous different kinds of
eye diseases.
Among the most promising recent developments in
eye research are those related to advances in scientists’
knowledge of stem cells. New laboratory technologies
have enabled scientists to reprogram skin cells into stem
cells, which have the potential to develop into any kind
of cell in the human body. Studies conducted in animals
have shown that mature cells can be reprogrammed into
eye cells, such as those of the cornea and retina; these
cells can then be transplanted into corresponding dis-
eased tissues in the eye. Scientists are hopeful that such
stem cell therapies will eventually be made available for
the treatment of human eye diseases such as retinitis
pigmentosa.
In recent years there also have occurred significant
advancements in gene therapy, in which a normal gene is
inserted into an individual’s genome in order to repair a
mutation that causes a genetic disease. This technology is
227
being investigated for the treatment of hereditary blind-

ing conditions such as macular degeneration. Major
breakthroughs such as stem cell and gene therapy are
the culmination of decades of scientific research into the
basic processes of cell and eye function. Though a great
deal of research still is needed to ensure that these new
therapeutic approaches are effective and safe, they repre-
sent vital progress and indicate that treatments for some
of the most common and progressive eye diseases will be
made available in the near future.
228
GLOSSARY
asthenopia Eyestrain often caused by psychological fac-
tors, the symptoms of which include fatigue,
headache, tearing, and discomfort.
axon Part of a neuron that connects to other neurons or
cells and transports impulses away from the cell body.
bipolar cell A type of neuron in the retina that is
connected to ganglions on one end and either one
cone cell or multiple rod cells on the other end.
concave lens A lens that curves inward, like a bowl.
cone Cone-shaped light-sensing cell in the
retinas of vertebrates that processes colour
and detail and converts light into impulses
to the optic nerve fibre.
convex lens A rounded lens that curves outward,
like a sphere.
dendrite Part of a neuron that typically transports
impulses toward a cell body.
diplopia Double vision, or perceiving two images of a
single object, resulting from the projection of an
object’s image onto non-corresponding locations
on the retina of each eye.
emmetropia Condition in which light rays focus
directly on the retina, resulting in normal vision.
ganglion cell A type of neuron in the retina that
receives input from both rods and cones.
hyperopia Farsightedness resulting from the
image of a visual field focusing behind
the retina.
innervate To provide an organ with nerves.
229
luminosity Brightness or intensity of light projected by

a source.
mesopic vision Eyesight in medium lighting that is
facilitated by both the rods and cones of the retina.
myopia Nearsightedness resulting from the image of a
visual field focusing in front of the retina.
nodule Tissue or cells that have amassed into a hard,
protruding growth.
ophthalmology Field of medicine concerned specifically
with the afflictions and treatment of the eye.
optic chiasm X-shaped structure below the hypothala-
mus where half the optic nerve fibres from each eye
cross over to join nerve fibres from the opposite eye
on the opposite side of the brain. The remaining half
of the fibres continue on the same respective side of
the brain.
orbit Hollow in the skull for the eye; eye socket.
photopic vision Eyesight in bright light that is facili-
tated by the cones of the retina.
presbyopia Loss of elasticity in the eye lens that results
in the inability to focus on nearby objects.
quantum A small unit of radiant energy, equivalent to
the product of Planck’s constant and the frequency of
the radiation.
refraction Change in a wave’s direction caused by its
passage through a different medium and the resultant
change in the wave’s velocity.
rod Rod-shaped light-sensing cell in the retinas of
vertebrates that converts stimuli from photons
into electrical and chemical stimuli for the
nervous system.
saccade Rapid eye movement, often accompanied by a
head movement, that shifts the gaze so that the fovea
can take in the various aspects of a visual field.
230
7 Glossary 7
scotoma Blind spot or area of the visual field in which

vision is severely limited.
scotopic vision Eyesight in low light that is facilitated
by the rods of the retina.
stereopsis Depth perception resulting from the projec-
tion of an object’s image, as it is perceived by each
eye, to a single hemisphere of the brain.
torsion Rotation of an organ on its own axis.
visual field Everything visible to a stationary eye at a
given moment.
231
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Detailed information about the human eye, eye diseases,
and the field of ophthalmology can be found in Gary H.
Cassel, Michael D. Billig, and Harry G. Randall, The Eye
Book: A Complete Guide to Eye Disorders and Health (1998);
Daniel M. Albert and Frederick A. Jakobiec (eds.), Prin-
ciples and Practice of Ophthalmology, 2nd ed., 6 vol. (2000);
and Daniel M. Albert and Diane D. Edwards, The History
of Ophthalmology (1996). A monumental ongoing series
covering all aspects of sensory reception in organisms
is Hansjochem Autrum (ed.), Handbook of Sensory
Physiology (1971–). An introductory work pertaining
specifically to photoreception is Robert W. Rodieck, The
First Steps in Seeing (1998). The optical systems of eyes
are discussed in relation to their role in vision in a wide
range of organisms in Jerome J. Wolken, Light Detectors,
Photoreceptors, and Imaging Systems in Nature (1995);
and Michael F. Land and Dan-Eric Nilsson, Animal Eyes
(2002). The types and functions of eye movements are
covered in Roger H.S. Carpenter, Movements of the
Eyes, 2nd ed. (1988). An appealing work on the basic
aspects of the different eye structures and the mecha-
nisms of photoreception specific to invertebrates is Eric
Warrant and Dan-Eric Nilsson, Invertebrate Vision
(2006). Information on the structure and photoreception
mechanisms of the human eye is provided in Clyde W.
Oyster, The Human Eye: Structure and Function (1999).
An excellent general text is Robert Sekuler and Randolph
Blake, Perception, 5th ed. (2005), focusing on percep-
tion through the senses. Irvin Rock, An Introduction to
Perception (1975), is an introductory text in experimental
psychology.
232
INDEX
A antiviral medications, 154, 159
aphakia, 223
Abbe, Ernst, 222 aqueous humour, 19, 20, 21, 22,
abducens nerve, 60, 201 24, 27, 39–41, 42, 67, 167,
abscesses, orbital, 145 181–182, 183–184
absorption spectrum, 82 arc eye, 207
accommodation (focusing), 21, ARMD (age-related macular
22, 27, 68–74, 135, 194, 195, degeneration), 37, 174–175, 176
225, 226 arteriosclerosis, 152, 199, 209
achromatic vision, 80 ascorbic acid, 39–40
achromatopsia, 193 asthenopia, 186, 193, 194
action-spectrum, 113 astigmatism, 22, 157, 164, 172,
active transport of solutes, 24–25 194, 197–198, 205, 214, 221,
adenoviruses, 154 223, 224
adrenaline, 52, 73 atherosclerosis, 152, 199
afterimages, 126–127 atropine, 55, 74
age-related cataracts, 170 autoimmune diseases, 163,
age-related macular degeneration 166, 212
(ARMD), 37, 174–175, 176 automated visual field testing, 218
albinism, 28, 189 a-wave, 99
Alessandro di Spina, 221 axes of eye, 32, 57, 63, 66,
alpha adaptation, 86 69, 70, 127
amacrine cells, 32, 34, 77, 92, 97 axons, 31, 32, 35, 38, 75, 77, 109,
amblyopia, 151–152, 171, 178, 194, 117, 120, 123
201, 203, 204
amino acids, 41, 116
aneurysms, 201, 210
B
angle closure glaucoma, 182,
183–184 Bacon, Roger, 221
anterior chamber, 20, 39, 41, balance, organs of, 62
165–166, 219 Bartisch, Georg, 214
anterior ciliary veins, 40 basal cell carcinoma, 153
anterior uveitis, 28–29, 165–166 benign posterior vitreal
antibiotic treatments, 145, 147, detachment, 173
157, 162 Best disease, 175–176
antioxidant bifocal lenses, 220, 222
supplementation, 175 binasal hemianopia, 188
233
binocular brightness brain

sensation, 139 electrical responses to light, 219
binocular diplopia, 200–201 visual centres, 18, 22, 39, 53,
binocular microscope, 218 75, 117, 120–122, 140–142,
binocular movements, 58–60 199, 203
binocular parallax, 135, 142 brightness perception/sensation,
binocular vision, 39, 117, 119, 125, 35, 83, 87, 88, 102–103, 109,
130–136, 200 112, 139
binocular visual field, 120 Brodmann, Korbinian, 120–121
bipolar cells, 31, 32, 34, 73, 77–78, Brodmann areas, 17–19
85, 91–92, 97–98, 111 of brain, 120–122
bitemporal hemianopia, 180, bulbar conjunctiva, 45
188, 189 bulging of eyeballs, 211–212
bleaching, 79, 82–83, 86, 113 Bunsen-Roscoe law, 85
bleeding/hemorrhaging, 37, 153, b-wave, 98
174, 187, 209, 210, 211
blepharitis, 146–148, 162
blepharochalasis, 150 C
blepharoptosis, 151–152, 201 calcarine fissure, 120
blindness, 29, 40, 121, 124, 154, canalicular ducts, 48
155, 157, 178, 191, 198–199, 210 canthi, 43, 46
blind spot (optic disk/papilla), carbonic anhydrase
19, 34, 37–38, 39, 117, 166, 181, inhibitors, 183
188, 209, 210, 217 cataracts, 163, 168, 169–172, 178,
blind spots (scotomata), 179, 180, 189, 199, 203, 205, 208, 216
187, 188–189 cathelicidin, 162
blinking, 46, 53–54, 56 caudate nucleus, 54
blink reflexes, 44, 53–54 cellular proliferation, 211
blood vessels, 19, 22, 24, 25, 26, cellulitis, orbital, 145
27, 38, 40, 43, 144, 145, 153, central artery of the retina, 26, 209
167, 212, 213, 217 central nervous system diseases,
occlusions/bursting, 209 208–209
overgrowth/abnormal forma- central vein of retina, 209
tion, 37, 152, 153, 160, 161, central vision, 37, 205, 208
168, 175, 176–178, 196, 210 centre-periphery organization of
blue-yellow colour blindness, 193 receptive fields, 112, 140
blurred vision, 64, 71, 157, 167, centrifugal messages, 34
195, 197, 225, 226 cerebral aneurysm, 201
Bowman’s membrane, 22, 23 cerebral cortex, 61, 112, 121
234
7 Index 7
chalazions, 149 colour, neuron response to,

chambers of the eye, 20–21 109–111
chemical amplification of light colour-blindness, 101–102, 186,
energy, 113 190, 192–193, 214
chemical energy/messages, 31, colour-contrast phenomena,
35, 36, 85 86–87
chemical injuries, 153, colour discrimination, 103–105
161–162, 207 colour mixing, 105–108
Chlamydia trachomatis, 155–157 colour of eye, 19, 28
chlorolabe, 108 colour perception, 33, 35, 36, 80,
choriocapillaris, 175 100–112, 190, 192–193
choroid, 19, 26, 27, 30, 31, 41, 166, colour potentials (C-units), 111
168, 178, 196, 217 colour vision, 100–112, 180, 190,
choroiditis, 167 192–193, 218
chromatic aberration, 93 compensated projection, 126–127
chromatic differences of complex neurons, 143
magnification, 136 concave lenses, 194, 197, 220, 222
chromatic threshold, 80 concomitant strabismus, 204
chromatophore, 113, 114–115 cone pedicle, 31, 77
chromolipoprotein, 116 cone photoreceptors, 21, 30, 31,
chromoprotein, 113, 114–115, 192 32, 33, 35, 36–37, 64, 73, 75, 77,
chronic dry eye, 49, 158 78, 86, 88, 91–92, 97, 98, 99,
chronic excessive tearing, 151 112, 135, 140, 164
chronic inflammatory disease of in dark-adapted conditions, 81,
the eye, 185 82–83
ciliary body, 19, 21, 26, 27, 30, 40, three types of colour sensing,
70, 166, 169, 178, 181, 182, 183 100, 107–109, 111, 192
ciliary epithelium, 19, 27, 28, 30 and wavelength discrimina-
ciliary ganglion, 71, 74 tion, 80, 103–105
ciliary muscle, 21, 26, 27, 68, 70, confrontation visual field
71, 195 exam, 217
ciliary nerves, 25, 71 congenital eye defects, 150, 151,
ciliary processes, 27 152, 159, 160, 165, 169, 171, 172,
ciliary vessels, 167 178, 185, 189, 190, 191, 192,
coats of eye, 19–21 193, 199, 201, 203, 204, 215
collagen, 23–24, 25, 41, 42 conjugate movements, 58–60
collapse of cornea, 41 conjunctiva, 41, 43, 44, 48,
collarette of iris, 27 153–158, 160, 208
coloboma, 178–179 conjunctival epithelium, 23
235
conjunctival sacs, 45 corrugator supercilii muscles,

conjunctival vessels, 26 47, 53
conjunctivitis, 153–155, 161 cortical cataracts, 170
constriction of pupil, 28, 29, cortical neurons, 121, 141–143
72–74, 121 corticosteroid/steroid treat-
contact lenses, 69, 160, 164, 171, ments, 29, 152, 159, 161, 163,
172, 186, 194, 198, 215, 167, 168, 170, 206
220–221, 223–224, 225 Council on Optometric
continuous feedback system, 66 Education, 216
contrast discrimination, 112 cranial nerves (other than optic),
convergence of eyes, 58, 65, 25, 29, 44, 52, 53, 55, 60, 68,
66–67, 68, 74, 130, 135 71, 73, 152, 162, 201
convergence of receptor critical fusion frequency, 87–88
messages, 78, 85, 86, 92–93 cross-eye (esotropia), 194,
convex lenses, 66, 68, 70, 194, 203, 204
197, 220, 222 crossing over of nerve fibres, 73,
cornea 118–119, 121
curvature of, 22, 69, 194, 197, crow’s feet, 46
219, 223, 226 crystalline lens, 17, 19, 20, 21, 29,
damage/injury to, 24, 25, 41, 39, 41, 42, 66–74, 168,
198, 206, 207, 208, 212, 226 169–172, 193–194, 195, 197,
diseases of, 158–162, 164 205, 208
and diseases of conjunctiva, C-units, 111
153, 154, 156, 157 curvature of cornea, 22, 69, 194,
and diseases of eyelids, 147, 197, 219, 223, 226
149, 151 cyclopean eye, 132
and diseases of inner eye, cycloplegia, 74
167, 185 cylindrical lenses, 194
lubrication/blink reflex, 51, 53
structure/function, 18, 19, 20,
21, 22–26, 43, 66–67 D
transplanting/grafting, 25, 164, dacryocystitis, 145
198, 213, 215 dark-adapted retina/eye, 81, 82,
and vision correction, 220, 221, 98, 108, 109, 113
224–226 daylight vision, 36, 89, 99,
coronal suture, 47 102–103
corpus callosum, 123–124 deafness with blindness, 191
corrective surgeries, 197, 198, 213, death of eye, 25
215, 224–226 degeneration of cornea, 164
236
7 Index 7
dendrites/dendritic processes, 31, glaucoma, 38, 40–41

32, 75, 77, 85, 97 of the inner eye, 28–29,
dendritic keratitis, 161 165–185
dendritic (branching) ulcer, of the lens, 169–172
159, 161 of the optic nerve, 179–181
depth perception, 123, 129–130 of the orbit, 144–146
dermatochalasis, 150 of the retina, 172–179
Descemet’s membrane, 22, 23 of the uveal tract, 28–29,
detail perception, 33, 36 165–168
detail resolution, 88–89 disjunctive movements, 58
deuteranopes/deuteranopia, distance discrimination, 117
102, 192 Doctor of Optometry (O.D.)
diabetes mellitus, 152, 170, 174, degree, 216
202, 210–211 dominance, eye/ocular, 137–139,
diabetic eye disease, 209, 141–143
210–211, 217 dominator responses, 109
dichromats, 101–102 Donders, Frans Cornelis, 215
diencephalon, 31, 119, 125 double-vision (diplopia), 132–133,
diffraction of light, 93 146, 170, 172, 186, 200–202,
diffuse bipolar cells, 77–78 208, 211, 212
diffuse ganglion cells, 78 Doyne honeycomb retinal
diffuse uveitis, 166 dystrophy, 176
dilation of pupil, 28, 29, 52, 72–74 drifts, 61, 63–64, 94
dilator muscle of the iris, 26, 28, drug/toxin effects on eyes, 166,
29, 30, 73 170, 180, 181, 188, 190, 195
dimensions of eye, 19 drusen, 37, 175, 176
dioptric (refractive) power, 69 dry ARMD, 37, 175
diplopia (double vision), 132–133, dry eyes, 49, 158, 161, 212
146, 170, 172, 186, 200–202, dural sheath, 25
208, 211, 212 dura mater, 25–26
directions of lines estimation,
127–128
diseases E
of the conjunctiva, 153–158 ectropion, 150–151
of the cornea and sclera, Edinger-Westphal nucleus, 71,
158–164, 198, 212 73–74
diagnosis and treatment, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, 172
213–226 electrical messages/energy, 31, 35,
of the eyelids, 146–153 36, 75, 82–83, 85, 117, 219
237
electrical responses to light, 219 eye examinations, 213, 215–216,

electroretinogram (ERG), 83, 217–220
98–99 eyeglasses, 69, 150, 164, 170, 171,
embryonic pupillary 172, 186, 190, 191, 194, 198,
membrane, 27 200, 202, 203, 205, 215, 220,
emmetropia, 67, 69 221–222, 224, 225
endothelia, 22, 23, 24–25, 26, 27 eyelashes, 43, 48
entropion, 151 eyelids, 43–48, 51–52, 146–153,
enucleation, 162, 168, 206 185, 201, 211, 212
epiphora, 151 eye socket (orbit), 38, 42–43, 46,
episcleritis, 163 144–146, 205, 211, 212
epithelia, 19, 22, 23, 27, 28, 30, 31, eyestrain, 186, 193, 194
42, 116, 172, 191
equator of eye, 42, 45, 49
ERG (electroretinogram), 83, F
98–99 facial (seventh cranial) nerve, 44,
erythema multiforme, 155 52, 53, 55
erythrolabe, 108 false projection, 126
esotropia (cross-eye), 194, 203, 204 farsightedness, 68–69, 186, 194,
excimer (exciplex) laser, 225 197, 204, 205, 221, 222, 224,
excitatory effects, 110–111, 141 225, 226
exophthalmos, 43, 211–212 fasciculi of optic nerve, 26
exotropia, 203 fast muscle fibers, 65
extraocular muscles, 46–47, Ferry-Porter law, 88
49–50, 52, 54, 56, 57, 65, 200, fibrous layer of eyelid, 44, 45
201–202, 208, 211 Fick, Adolf, 223
exudative retinal filtering microsurgery, 41
detachments, 174 first-aid treatment, 207
eyeball (globe) fixation of gaze, 54, 56, 61, 64, 65,
displacement, 200, 211 68, 81, 94, 132
perforations, 162, 205 fixation reflex, 61, 62, 64
protection, 22, 42–43, 44, 47, flashing lights in eye, 174, 180, 187
49, 51–56 flat cone bipolar cells, 77, 92
removal, 162, 168, 206 flicker, 87–88, 98–99
rotation, 43, 44, 52, 57 flicker-photometer, 102
structure, 18–22, 22–29, flicks, 63–65, 66
30–38, 201 floaters, 167, 173, 186–187
eye banks, 213, 215 fluid accumulation, 211
eyebrow movement, 46, 47 fluid flow out of eye, 21, 40–41
eye charts, 91, 217 fluid leaking, 209
238
7 Index 7
fluid movement from cornea, 24 geniculostriate pathway, 124

focal length, 69 German measles, 169
focusing (accommodation), 21, Ghirlandaio, Domenico, 222
22, 27, 68–74, 135, 194, 195, glands, 43, 44, 48
225, 226 glare, 170
foreign bodies, 205, 206–207 glass, optical, 222
fornices, 45, 48 glaucoma, 29, 38, 40–41, 163, 178,
fovea, 21, 32, 33, 34, 36, 56, 64, 181–185, 188, 193, 199, 210,
80–81, 91–93 211, 214, 216, 218
Franklin, Benjamin, 222 globus pallidus, 54
frequency-of-containing-quanta glucose, 39, 41
curve, 84 Goldmann visual field exam, 217
frequency of light, 84 goniolens, 219
frequency of seeing, 83, 84 gonococcal conjunctivitis,
frontal bone, 42 154–155
frontal cortex, 63 grafting of corneas, 25
frontalis muscle, 47 grain of the retinal mosaic, 91
Fuch’s endothelial dystrophy, 25 grating-frequency, 99–100
functional blindness, 199 Graves ophthalmopathy, 145,
fundus oculi, 19, 209, 219 200, 211, 212
fungal infections, 159, 160, 166 gravity organ, 62–63
fusion, 87–88, 98–99 Gregg, Norman M., 169
fusion of retinal images, 119,
134–135, 142–143
Fyodorov, Svyatoslav Nikolay, 226 H
Haemophilus influenzae, 154
G half-blindness (hemianopia), 121,
ganglion cells, 31, 32, 34, 35, 38, 73, 180, 188–189
75, 77, 85, 92, 95–98, 99–100, hard contact lenses, 223
102–103, 110, 112, 117, 140, headaches, 188, 193, 202
181, 182 Helmholtz, Hermann von, 107,
gas-permeable rigid contact 128, 216
lenses, 220–221, 223 hemangiomas, 152
gaze, 37, 47, 50, 52, 56, 57, 58, 61, 62, hemianopia, 121, 180, 188–189
68, 81, 94, 123, 132, 189, 204 hemorrhaging/bleeding, 37, 153,
gene therapies, 227–228 174, 187, 209, 210, 211
genetic/hereditary conditions, hereditary/genetic conditions,
35, 169, 171, 172, 175–176, 181, 35, 169, 171, 172, 175–176, 181,
182, 186, 188, 190, 191, 182, 186, 188, 190, 191,
192–193, 199, 204, 228 192–193, 199, 204, 228
239
herpesviruses, 146, 149, 158–159, inductive phenomena, 86–87

160, 161, 163 inertia, lack of, 65
hexosamine, 24 infantile cataracts, 171
hippus, 72 infection protection (by tears),
H-LASIK surgery, 197 49, 54
homonymous hemianopia, 188 infrared radiation, 101
horizontal cells, 32, 34, 77, 92, 111 inhibition (inhibitory effects),
Horner’s muscle, 46 60, 86–87, 92, 93, 96–98, 99,
Horner syndrome, 29, 152 110–111, 140, 141
horopter, 134 injuries, eye, 186, 199, 205–208
H-PRK surgery, 197 inner nuclear layer of retina, 31
hue discrimination, 101, 103–105 inner segment of rods, 35
Hugh of Provence portrait, 221 innervation, 52–53, 55, 56, 74
hyalocytes of Balazs, 41 instantaneous parallax, 135
hyaluronic acid, 41 interferon treatments, 152
hybrid contact lenses, 224 interhemispheric
hyperopia, 68–69, 186, 194, commissure, 123
197, 204, 205, 221, 222, 224, intermediate retinal neurons,
225, 226 35, 36
hyperopic laser in situ keratomi- intermediate uveitis, 166
leusis (H-LASIK) interstitial keratitis, 160–161
surgery, 197 intracranial cavity, pressure in,
hypertension, ocular, 182 179, 188
hypertension, vascular, 152, 209 intracranial tumours, 190, 208
hypertropia, 203 intraocular pressure, 40–41, 168,
hypotropia, 204 182–185, 219
hysteria and visual field intrascleral plexus (network), 40
defects, 188 involuntary movements, 53, 62,
71, 94, 111
involuntary reflex, 71
I ionizing radiation damage, 208
image formation, 17–18, 21, 22, iris, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27–29, 30, 71,
32, 33, 35, 66, 68, 69, 75, 168, 178, 183, 184, 210
80–81, 93–94, 119 iritis, 28–29, 165–166
immune-mediated diseases, 163 irregular astigmatism, 198, 223
immunosuppressant/immuno- irregular movements, 63
modulatory treatments, 163, ischemia, 210
167, 206, 212 isomerization, 36, 115
incomitant strabismus, 204 itching of eyes, 146, 147, 153, 155
240
7 Index 7
J Leber hereditary optic neuropa-

thy (LHON), 181
jerk nystagmus, 189
legal blindness, 199
Jerome, St., 222
length comparison estimation,
128–129
K lens, artificial, 170, 171, 172
lens, crystalline, 17, 19, 20, 21, 29,
keratitis, 160–162, 163 39, 41, 42, 66–74, 168,
keratoconjunctivitis, 153, 154, 169–172, 193–194, 195, 197,
160, 161 205, 208
keratoconus, 164 lens capsule, 42, 68, 70, 169
keratomileusis, 224 lenses, contact, 69, 160, 164, 171,
172, 186, 194, 198, 215,
220–221, 223–224, 225
L lenticular astigmatism, 197
lacrimal (tear) ducts and glands, leukoma, 24
43, 48–49, 54, 56, 145–146, 161 levator aponeurosis, 46
lacrimal pump, 56 levator palpebral muscles, 46, 47,
lacrimal sac, 48, 56, 145 51–52, 151, 152
lacrimal secretions (tears), 22, 44, LHON (Leber hereditary optic
48–49, 53, 54–56 neuropathy), 181
lacrimation, 48, 56, 158, 159, 185, light absorption, 82–83, 113,
193, 206, 207 114–115
lactic acid, 39–40 light-adapted eye/retina, 78, 102,
lamellae of corneal stroma, 23 108, 109
lamina cribrosa, 26 light detection threshold, 78,
lamina fusca, 26 79–81, 83–86
Landolt C, 89 light diffraction, 93
laser-assisted in situ keratomi- light-insensitive layers, 32
leusis (LASIK) surgery, 197, light intensity, 85
215, 224–225 light path in eye, 28, 29, 32–33, 94
laser photocoagulation of retina, light perception defects,
210–211 190–192
LASIK surgery, 197, 215, 224–225 light protection, 47, 53
lateral geniculate bodies, 31, 35, light reflex, 71–74, 121
39, 112, 119, 120–122, 180 light sensitivity
lateral geniculate neurons, 92, of retina, 79, 80, 81, 86–87,
112, 140–141 92–93
lateral palpebral raphe, 46 as symptom, 159, 160, 167, 185, 193
241
limbus, 18, 24 malposition of the eyelids,

limiting membrane, infolding, 32 150–152
linear organization of receptive Marfan syndrome, 172
fields, 141 massage treatments, 145
line direction estimation, maxilla, 42
127–128 medullary centre, 53
linking of muscles, 57–58, 60 meibomian glands, 44, 48–49,
lipid (oily) layer of tear film, 147, 149
48–49, 54 melanoma, 153, 168
local sign of the impulses, 92 membranous disks of rods, 116
local signs, 125–126 meridian, 119–120
London Eye Infirmary, 215 mesopic luminosity, 103
low-tension glaucoma, 182 message transmission, 31, 32,
low-vision aids, 199, 221 34–35
lubrication, artificial, 49, 151, 155, metabolic disorders, 169, 171,
161, 211, 212 190, 199
luminance, 83, 85, 88, 92, 94, 103 metacontrast, 87
luminosity curve, 102–103 metarhodopsins, 115–116
luminosity perception/sensation, microsaccades, 64, 94
35, 83, 87, 88, 102–103, 109, midbrain centres, 35, 73
112, 139 midget bipolar cells, 77, 92
luminosity potentials midget ganglion cells, 77
(L-units), 111 migraine headaches, 188, 202
lumirhodopsin, 114, 115 misalignment of eyes, 200–205
L-units, 111 modulator reponses, 109
Lyme disease, 166, 180 moisture maintenance, 43, 49, 54
lysozyme, 54 monocular diplopia, 201
monocular perception, 125
motor nerves, 43, 53, 61, 73–74
M movements, eye, 54, 56–66,
macula lutea, 34, 36, 37, 38, 126–128, 189–190, 208, 211
174, 217 mucopolysaccharide, 24, 41
macular degeneration, 37, mucous layer of tear film, 48,
174–176, 199, 228 49, 54
macular edema, 210 Müller’s muscle, 52
magnification, chromatic multiple sclerosis, 180, 190,
differences of, 136 202, 208
Malattia Leventinese retinal muscular dystrophy, 152
dystrophy, 176 myasthenia gravis, 152, 200, 202
242
7 Index 7
myopia (nearsightedness), 21, nuclear sclerotic cataracts, 170

68–69, 93, 178, 186, 187, 192, nuclei of retinal cells, 31
194, 195–197, 205, 221, 222, null point in nystagmus, 189
223, 224, 225, 226 nutritional deficiencies, 188, 190,
192, 199
nyctalopia (night blindness), 116,
N 186, 191–192, 214
nasolacrimal duct, 48, 145–146 nystagmus, 61–62, 189–190, 193
near reflex, 72
nearsightedness, 21, 68–69, 93,
178, 186, 187, 192, 194, O
195–197, 205, 221, 222, 223, oblique muscles, 49, 50, 57,
224, 225, 226 60, 201
neck muscles, 63 occipital cortex/lobes, 39, 53, 61,
nerves 63, 119, 120, 121, 124, 180, 208
cranial (other than optic), 25, ocular hypertension, 182
29, 44, 52, 53, 55, 60, 68, 71, ocular injuries, 186, 199, 205–208
73, 152, 162, 201 oculists, 214
motor, 43, 53, 61, 73–74 oculomotor (third cranial) nerve,
sensory, 43, 60–61 29, 44, 52, 60, 68, 71, 73,
neuroepithelium, 30 152, 201
neurons (nerve cells) O.D. degree, 216
response to colour, 109–111 off-centre-on-periphery unit, 110
retinal networks, 30–36, off-fibres and off-elements,
75–78, 83 95–96
of the visual centres, 140–143 off-response, 110, 140, 141
neuroparalytic keratitis, 162 oil secretion, 49, 54
neurotransmitter release, 36 on-centre-off-periphery unit, 110
nevi, 152–153 one-to-one message transmis-
Newton, Sir Isaac, 105 sion, 92
night blindness, 116, 186, on-fibres and on-elements, 95
191–192, 214 on-off fibres and on-off ele-
night vision, 33, 36, 80–82, ments, 95–96
88–89, 99, 103–104 on-response, 110, 140, 141
nocturnal animals, 33 opacity of cornea, 160
nonproliferative diabetic opacity of lens, 169–172
retinopathy, 210 ophthalmic artery, 26, 43
normal sight (emmetropia), 67, 69 ophthalmological examinations,
normal-tension glaucoma, 182 213, 215–216, 217–220
243
ophthalmologists, 91, 213–215, 216 orbicularis oculi muscle, 43–44,

ophthalmology, 213–215 45, 46, 47, 51–52, 53, 56, 151
ophthalmoplegia, 201–202 orbit, 38, 42–43, 46, 144–146, 205,
ophthalmoscopes, 19, 213, 215, 211, 212
216–217, 218–219 orbital fat, 43, 144, 150
opponent responses to coloured orbital margin, 47
light, 110–111, 112 orbital plate, 42
opsin, 35, 36, 113, 114–115 orbital tumours, 146, 212
optical glass, 222 osmotic gradients, 24
optic atrophy, 179, 181 otolith organ, 62–63
optic axis, 32, 57 outer nuclear layer of retina, 31
optic canal, 38 outer segment of photorecep-
optic chiasm/chiasma, 38, 39, 118, tors, 32, 35
124, 179, 188, 189 oxygen therapy in premature
optic disk (papilla), 19, 34, 37–38, infants, 178
39, 117, 166, 181, 188, 209,
210, 217
optic foramen, 42, 49 P
opticians, 216 pain in eye area, 22, 25, 159, 160,
optic (second cranial) nerve, 22, 163, 166–167, 180–181, 184,
25, 26, 31, 36, 38–39, 43, 49, 201, 206, 207, 212
75, 77, 117–118, 191 palatine bones, 42
diseases/malfunction, 179–181, palpebral muscles, 43–44, 45–47,
182, 187, 188–189, 193, 199, 51–52, 53, 56, 151, 152
211, 212 palpebral (eyelid) structures,
fibres, 19, 31, 34, 35, 37, 39, 44–47
95–96, 109–111, 117–119, 189 palsies, 152, 201–202
optic neuritis, 179, 180–181, Panum’s fusional area, 135
188, 208 panuveitis, 166
optic neuropathies, 38, 181, 182 papilla (optic disk), 19, 34, 37–38,
optic radiations, 39 39, 117, 166, 181, 188, 209,
optic tracts, 39, 118, 119 210, 217
optic/visual pathways, 28, 29, 34, papilledema, 179, 188
109, 117–122, 124–125, 187, papillitis, 181
188, 199, 208 papillomas, 152
optokinetic nystagmus, 61–62 paracontrast, 87
optometrists, 91, 215–216 parafovea, 33
optometry, 215–216 parallax, 135
ora serrata, 27, 30 parasitic infections, 166
244
7 Index 7
parastriate region of brain, 122 pinguecula, 157, 158

parasympathetic nervous pinkeye (conjunctivitis),
system, 29, 55, 68, 73, 74 153–155, 161
partial decussation (crossover) of pituitary gland, tumours of,
nerve fibres, 73, 118–119, 121 179, 189
patching of eye, 171, 200, 202, Planck’s constant, 84
203, 204–205, 207 plastic corrective lenses, 222,
pathologic nystagmus, 189 223–224
pendular nystagmus, 189 plexiform layers, 31, 32, 77
perifovea, 33 POAG (primary open angle
perikarya, 31 glaucoma), 182–183
perimeter, 119 posterior chamber, 21, 39
perimetry, 189, 218 posterior iris epithelium, 19, 27,
peripheral vision, 37, 51, 61, 94, 28, 30
150, 220 posterior orbit, 38, 145
peristriate area of brain, 122 posterior scleral foramen, 25
perspective, 117, 129 posterior subcapsular
photochromatic interval, 80 cataracts, 170
photoisomerization, 115 posterior uveitis, 166
photons, 35 postrotatory nystagmus, 62
photoreceptors, defined, 21–22 precorneal (tear) film, 44, 48–49,
photorefractive keratectomy 54, 223
for hyperopia (H-PRK) prelumirhodopsin, 114, 115
surgery, 197 presbyopia, 68, 70, 194, 195
photorefractive keratectomy pressure, eye, 40–41, 168,
(PRK) surgery, 197, 224–225 182–185, 219
phototopic luminosity curve, 103 pressure, intracranial, 179, 188
phototopic vision, 36, 89, 99, pretectal nucleus (centre),
102–103 35, 73, 121
phototransduction apparatus, 35 primary open angle glaucoma
physiological diplopia, 132–133 (POAG), 182–183
pigment, light-sensitive, 32, 78, 82 prisms, 58, 74, 100, 105, 190, 200,
pigment, loss of retinal, 37 202, 205
pigment cells, 26, 28 PRK surgery, 197, 224–225
pigmented tumours, 168 procerus (pyramidalis) muscles,
pigment epithelium, 28, 30, 31, 47, 53
116, 172, 191 progressive lenses, 220
pigment mixing, 107 projection of retinal images,
pilocarpine, 74 126–127, 129, 130–136
245
proliferative diabetic retinopa- receptor potentials, 98

thy, 210 reciprocal inhibition, 60
proptosis, 43, 211–212 reciprocal innervation, 74
protanopes/protanopia, 101, 192 rectus muscles, 49, 50, 52, 57, 60,
protection of eye, 22, 42–43, 44, 74, 201
47, 49, 51–56 red-green colour blindness, 102,
protozoan infection of cornea, 160 190, 192–193
protrusion of eyes, 43, 52 redness of eyes, 26, 146, 149, 151,
psychical stimulation of pupil 153, 154, 155, 160, 163, 166, 212
dilation, 73 reflex movements, 56–57, 58, 60,
psychological compensation, 62, 65
126–127 reflex pathways, 60–63
pterygium, 157–158 reflex tearing, 48, 56
ptosis, 151–152, 201 reflex weeping, 55, 56
pulvinar of the thalamus, 125 refraction of light, 22, 32, 66–67
puncta, 49, 145, 161 refractive errors/abnormalities,
pupil, 19, 21 186, 193–198, 199, 203,
constriction of, 28, 29, 221, 223
71–74, 121 refractive indices, 67, 222
dilation of, 28, 29, 52, 73–74 refractive power, 69, 193–194
size and shape, 27, 29, 39, 72, refractive state of eye, 219
121, 201 refractive surgeries, 197, 198, 213,
pupillary block glaucoma, 184 215, 224–226
Purkinje shift, 103 resolving power, 89, 91, 99–100
pyramidalis (procerus) muscles, retina
47, 53 and blind spots, 187, 188, 189
and convergence point, 66, 67,
68–69
Q damage to/abnormalities of,
quanta of light, 79, 83–84, 40, 187, 189, 190–191, 194,
85–86, 113 196, 199, 205, 207
quantum theory, 86 detachment of, 167, 168,
172–174, 178, 187, 196, 210, 211
diseases of, 172–179, 193
R and diseases of inner eye, 166,
radial keratotomy (RK) surgery, 167, 168, 180, 182
225–226 electrophysiology of, 95–116, 219
Raphael, 222 integration of information,
reading, 33, 56, 194, 195, 220, 221 123–125
receptive field, 96–97, 110, 112 and refractive errors, 193–198
246
7 Index 7
and stabilized image, 64 in dark-adapted conditions,

structure, 19, 21, 26, 27, 29, 81–82
30–39, 41, 217 and retinitis pigmentosa, 191
and systemic diseases, 208, rod spherule, 31, 77, 113
209–211 rolling of eye, 50, 58
and vision, 75–94, 136–139, 225 root of iris, 27, 184
retinal, 113, 114–116 rosacea keratitis, 162
retinal angiography, 219 rotation of eyeball, 43, 44, 52, 57
retinal blood vessels, 19, 26, 209, 217 rubella, 169
retinaldehydes, 35–36 rupture of iris muscles, 29
retinal detachment, 167, 168,
172–174, 178, 187, 196, 210, 211
S
retinal implants, 191
retinal rivalry, 136–139 saccades (flicks), 63–65, 66
retinitis, 167 saccadic suppression, 65
retinitis pigmentosa, 35, 186, 188, safety glasses, 206–207
190–191, 227 sampled data system, 65
scarring of cornea, 158, 159, 162
retinopathy of prematurity,
Schlemm’s canal, 21, 40
176–178
Schott, Otto, 222
retinoscope, 219
sclera, 18, 19, 22, 23–24, 25–26, 49,
retrobulbar neuritis, 181
50, 162–163, 212
rhegmatogenous retinal detach-
scleritis, 162–163, 212
ment, 172
scotomata, 179, 180, 187, 188–189
rheumatoid arthritis, 163, 166, 212
scotopic sensitivity curve, 98
rhodopsin, 35, 36, 82, 98, 102,
scotopic vision, 33, 36, 80–82,
104, 108, 110, 113–116, 192 88–89, 99, 103–104
Ricco’s law, 85 sebaceous carcinoma of the
rigid gas-permeable contact eyelid glands, 153
lenses, 220–221, 223 sebaceous glands, 147, 148
Riolan, muscle of, 46 seborrhea, 147
RK surgery, 225–226 sebum, 44
rodent ulcer, 153 secretion of tears, 48–49, 54–56
rod photoreceptors, 30, 31, 32, 33, seesaw movement, 58
34, 35–36, 37, 64, 73, 75, 77, 78, semicircular canals, 62
84, 85, 86, 88, 92, 97, 98, 99, sensory adaptation, 94
102, 103–104, 109, 113, 114, sensory nerves, 43, 60–61
116, 140, 192 sensory nystagmus, 189
and achromatic vision, 80 sensory pathway in reflex arc, 61
and bleaching, 82–83 sensory strabismus, 204
247
septum orbitale, 45 stereoscope, 130–131, 136

shape perception, 35 stereoscopic vision/perception,
sharpening of the image, 93 117, 130–136, 137
shingles, 149, 161, 163 steroid/corticosteroid treat-
simultaneous contrast ments, 29, 152, 159, 161, 163,
phenomena, 86 167, 168, 170, 206
simultaneous perception, 137 sties, 148–149
size perception, 35 strabismus, 58, 194, 203–205, 214
Sjögren syndrome, 161 Streptococcus bacteria, 154
skin of eyelids, 43, 47–48 striate (striped) area of brain,
slit lamp, 218, 219 120–122, 124
slow irregular drifts, 63 striated muscles, 47
slow muscle fibres, 65 stroma of cornea, 22, 23
smoking, 175 stroma of iris, 27–28
smooth (involuntary) muscles, superimposition of images, 137
27, 47, 52, 71, 74 superior colliculi, 61, 124–125
Snellen chart, 91 superior orbital fissure, 43
snowballs, 167 surgeries, 40–41, 49, 145–146,
snowbanking, 167 161, 172, 190, 197, 198, 202,
snow blindness, 207 206, 211, 212, 213, 215, 216,
soft contact lenses, 221, 223–224 224–226
Sorsby fundus dystrophy, 176 suspensory ligaments (zonules of
spasmus nutans, 190 Zinn), 20, 27, 42, 68, 70, 169,
spatial perception, 125–135 172, 195
spatial summation, 84–85, 92 sweat glands, 48
spectral sensitivity, 102–103 swelling of eye tissues, 25, 145,
sphenoid, 42 148, 150, 152, 154, 155, 167,
sphincter muscle of the iris, 26, 168, 179, 180, 188, 209, 210,
28, 73 211, 212
S-potentials, 111 sympathetic nervous system, 29,
squint (strabismus), 58, 194, 47, 52, 73, 74
203–205, 214 sympathetic ophthalmia,
stabilized retinal image, 64 205–206
Staphylococcus bacteria, 146, 154 synapses, 75, 77
Stargardt-like macular synaptic body/region, 32, 34,
dystrophy, 176 35, 36
Stargardt macular dystrophy, 176 syphilis, 159–160, 163, 180
stem cell therapies, 227–228 systemic disease complications,
stereogram, 130–131, 136 208–212
stereopsis, 123, 142 systemic lupus erythematosus, 163
248
7 Index 7
T trichiasis, 151
trifocal lenses, 220, 222
Talbot-Plateau law, 88
tarsal glands, 44, 48–49, 147, 149 trigeminal (fifth cranial) nerve,
tarsal plates, 44, 45, 49, 149 25, 53, 55, 162
tear ducts and glands, 43, 48–49, tritanopes/tritanopia, 102, 192
54, 56, 145–146, 161 trochlea, 49
tear film, 44, 48–49, 54, 223 trochlear nerve, 60, 201
tearing (lacrimation), 48, 56, 158, Troxler phenomenon, 94
159, 185, 193, 206, 207 tuberculosis, 160, 163
tears, 22, 44, 48–49, 53, 54–56 tumours
temporal summation, 85–86 and blindness, 199
three-dimensional object/space as cause of glaucoma, 185
perception, 129–136, 137 and double vision, 200
threshold stimulus for vision, 78, of the eyelids, 152–153
79–81, 83–86 intracranial, 190, 208
thyroid eye disease, 145, 200, and ophthalmoplegia, 202
211, 212 and optic atrophy, 179, 181
Tommaso da Modena, 221–222 of the orbit, 146, 212
tonic activity, 60 of the uveal tract, 168
tonometer, 219 and visual field defects,
torsion of eye, 50, 58 188, 189
torticollis and spasmus tunnel vision, 191
nutans, 190
total blindness, 198–199
trabecular meshwork, 21, 40, U
41, 183
ulcerations of cornea, 147, 151,
trabeculectomy, 41
159, 162
trabeculoplasty, 40–41
ultrasound, 219
trachoma, 155–157
ultraviolet (UV) light
tracking movement, 66
tractional retinal damage, 207
detachments, 174 uncertainty principle, 84
transducin, 36 uniocular visual field, 120
transduction, 114–116 University of Göttingen, 214
transparent media of eye, 39–42 Usher syndrome, 191
transplanting of corneas, 164, utricle, 62–63
198, 213, 215 uvea (uveal tract), 19, 26–29,
trauma effects on eyes, 25, 29, 165–168
151, 152, 166, 170, 172, 173, 181, uveitis, 163, 165–168, 170
199, 200, 201, 204, 212 UV light damage, 207
249
V visual purple (rhodopsin), 35, 36,

vascular (blood vessel) diseases, 82, 98, 102, 104, 108, 110,
167, 181, 188, 190, 199, 200, 202 113–116, 192
vascular hypertension, 152, 209 visual spectrum, 100–101,
vasculitis, 167 105–107
veil (curtain) across visual field, vitamin A, 113, 115, 116, 190, 192
174, 187 vitrectomy, 168
vein passage, 43 vitreous body/humour, 19, 20, 21,
velocity of movements, 64–65 39, 41, 42, 67, 166, 168, 173,
vestibular apparatus, 62 187, 210, 211
Vieth-Müller horopter circle, 134 vitritis, 167
vision vitrosin, 41
achromatic, 80 voluntary contol of movements,
impairment/loss, 38, 162, 167, 56–57, 58, 63
168, 170, 171, 172, 174–176,
178, 179, 180–181, 182–185,
207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212,
W
213, 214, 215, 221, 223 waste product removal, 40, 41
minimum stimulus for, 83–86 wavelength discrimination,
perceptual aspects, 125–135 100–102, 103–105
and the retina, 75–94, 123–125, wavelengths of light, 79–80,
136–139 98–99
vision screening/testing, 203, 213, weeping, 54–56
215–216, 217–219 welder’s flash, 207
visual acuity, 73, 81–82, 88–94, 217 wet ARMD, 37, 175
visual axis, 57 white light, 105–107
visual cortex, 18, 39, 53, 125
visual disorders, 186–205
visual field, 37–38, 51, 60, 61, 66, 68 Y
about, 119–120
Yarbus, Alfred L., 65
defects, 39, 188–189
yellow spot, 34, 37
testing/mapping, 122, 208, 217, 218
Young-Helmholtz trichromatic
veiled, 174, 187
theory, 107–109, 111
visual/optic pathways, 28, 29, 34,
109, 117–122, 124–125, 187,
188, 199, 208
Z
visual orientation, 33
visual perception testing, 218 zonules of Zinn, 20, 27, 42, 68,
visual process, introduction to, 70, 169, 172, 195
17–18 zygomatic bones, 42
250

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Introduction: Patient being fitted for glasses by an eye specialist. Shutterstock.com

Chapter 1: Anatomy of the Eye 17

Chapter 2: Protection and

Chapter 3:Vision and

Chapter 5: Vision and

Chapter 6: Diseases of the

Chapter 7: Diseases of the

Chapter 8: Visual Disorders and

Chapter 9: Diagnosis and

The scientific study of the eye is believed to have origi-

which receive visual information and transmit this infor-

small dimple in a part of the retina called the fovea, or

to translate this image into one that is right side up and

of the gel in the vitreous body. Macular degeneration is a

focus on eye problems and perform surgery; optometrists,

Close-up of a human eye. Shutterstock.com

T he human eye is an amazingly complex structure that

carried along a neuronal pathway that extends from the

Within the cavities formed by this triple-layered coat

send signals to neighbouring cells in the retina that then

Outer tissues of the eyeball

percent of the thickness of the cornea is made up of

by contrast with the almost uniform thickness and strictly

behind. Once loss of a critical number of endothelial cells

covering of the brain. The inner third of the sclera, com-

The ciliary body is the forward continuation of the

muscle, the sphincter and dilator muscles, that control the

lens or the cornea, blocking the normal flow of fluid in the

Inner tissues of the eyeball

brain proper by the optic nerve. The retina functions spe-

bipolar cells. (The dendritic process of a nerve cell is

absent. The result is a depression, the foveal pit, where

The fovea is sometimes referred to as the macula lutea

Most of the optic nerve fibres in primates carry their

11-cis-retinaldehyde to undergo isomerization (a change in

are ultimately relayed as impulses to optic nerve fibres

blind spots are not perceived because the visual fields

Transparent media of the eye

nutrients (as well as oxygen) to eye tissues that lack a direct

meshwork, and trabeculectomy (also called filtering

The lens is a transparent body, flatter on its anterior (front)

muscle, responsible for lid closure; (3) a fibrous layer that

The movable tissues of the eyelids, namely the skin

Muscles of the Lids

movements of the pigment cells that determine the

Tear Ducts and Glands

consist of a row of elongated glands extending through the

Six muscles outside the eye govern its movements. These

The inferior oblique muscle originates from the floor