| physiological sense of sight by which the form, color, size, movements, and distance of objects are perceived. Vision in Humans The human eye functions somewhat like a camera; that is, it receives and focuses light upon a photosensitive receiver, the retina. The light rays are bent and brought to focus as they pass through the cornea and the lens. The shape of the lens can be changed by the action of the ciliary muscles so that clear images of objects at different distances and of moving objects are formed on the retina. This ability to focus objects at varying distances is known as accommodation. The Role of the Retina The retina—the embryonic outgrowth of the brain—is a very complex tissue. Its most important elements are its many light-sensitive nerve cells, the rods and cones. The cones secrete the pigment iodopsin and are most effective in bright light; they alone provide color vision. The rods, which secrete a substance called visual purple, or rhodopsin, provide vision in dim light or semidarkness; since rods do not provide color vision, objects in such light appear in shades of gray. Light rays brought to focus on the rods and cones produce a chemical reaction in those cells, in which the two pigments are broken down to form a protein and a vitamin A compound. This chemical process stimulates an electrical impulse that is sent to the brain. The structural change of pigment is normally balanced by the formation of new pigment through the recombination of the protein and vitamin A compound; thus vision is uninterrupted. The division of function between rods and cones is a result of the different sensitivity of their pigments to light. The iodopsin of cone cells is less sensitive than rhodopsin, and therefore is not activated by weak light, while in bright light the highly sensitive rhodopsin of rod cells breaks down so rapidly that it soon becomes inactive. There is a depression near the center of the retina called the fovea that contains only cone cells. It provides the keenest possible vision when an object is viewed directly in bright light. In dim light objects must be viewed somewhat to one side so the light rays fall on the area of the retina that contains rod cells. The Role of the Optic Nerve and Brain The nerve impulses from the rods and cones are transmitted by nerve fibers across the retina to an area where the fibers converge and form the optic nerve. The area where the optic nerve passes through the retina is devoid of rods and cones and is known as the blind spot. The optic nerve from the left eye and that from the right eye meet at a point called the optic chiasma. There each nerve separates into two branches. The inner branch from each eye crosses over and joins the outer branch from the other eye. Two optic tracts exit thereby from the chiasma, transferring the impulses from the left side of each eye to the left visual center in the cerebral cortex (see brain) and the impulses from the right half of each eye to the right cerebral cortex. The brain then fuses the two separate images to form a single image. The image formed on the retina is an inverted one, because the light rays entering the eye are refracted and cross each other. However, the mental image as interpreted by the brain is right side up. How the brain corrects the inverted image to produce normal vision is unknown, but the ability is thought to be acquired early in life, with the aid of the other senses. Color and Stereoscopic Vision Color vision is based on the ability to discriminate between the various wavelengths that constitute the spectrum. The Young-Helmholtz theory, developed in 1802 by Thomas Young and H. L. F. Helmholtz, is based on the assumption that there are three fundamental color sensations—red, green, and blue—and that there are three different groups of cones in the retina, each group particularly sensitive to one of these three colors. Light from a red object, for example, stimulates the cones that are more sensitive to red than the other cones. Other colors (besides red, green, and blue) are seen when the cone cells are stimulated in different combinations. Only in recent years has conclusive evidence shown that the Young-Helmholtz theory is, indeed, accurate. The sensation of white is produced by the combination of the three primary colors, and black results from the absence of stimulation. Humans normally have binocular vision, i.e., separate images of the visual field are formed by each eye; the two images fuse to form a single impression. Because each eye forms its own image from a slightly different angle, a stereoscopic effect is obtained, and depth, distance, and solidity of an object are appreciated. Stereoscopic color vision is found primarily among the higher primates, and it developed fairly late on the evolutionary scale. Defects of Vision Defects of vision include astigmatism, color blindness, farsightedness, and nearsightedness. The absence of rods causes a condition known as night blindness; an absence of cones constitutes legal blindness. Bibliography See A. Hughes, The Visual System in the Evolution of Vertebrates (1977); G. S. Wasserman, Color Vision: An Historical Introduction (1978); M. Fineman, The Inquisitive Eye (1981); D. H. Hubel, Eye, Brain, and Vision (1988). ____________________The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved. -49764- | 
