What is an Eye?

An eye is a round-shaped organ that works with the brain to provide us with vision. The
shape of the eye is maintained by the pressure of the aqueous humor. The aqueous humor
is the fluid that fills the front chamber of the eye.

Function of the Eye

The main function of the eye is to work with the brain to provide us with vision. The eye
and brain translate light waves into a sensation we call vision.

Eye Parts

The eye has many parts. Some of the main parts are listed and described below.

• lens
o The transparent crystalline lens of the eye is located immediately behind
the iris.
• cornea
o The cornea is a transparent dome which serves as the outer window of the
eye. The cornea is the most powerful structure focusing light entering the
eye.
• retina
o The retina is the innermost layer of the eye. It is composed of nerve tissue
which senses the light entering the eye.
o The retina sends impulses through the optic nerve back to the brain, which
translates the impulses into images that we see.
o There are 4 types of light-sensitive receptors found in the retina
1. rods
2. cones that absorb long-wavelength light (red)
3. cones that absorb middle-wavelength light (green)
4. cones that absorb short-wavelength light (blue)
• pupil
o The pupil is the hole in the center of the eye where light passes through.
• iris
o The iris is the colored part of the eye. It is a thin diaphragm composed
mostly of connective tissue and smooth muscle fibers. The iris lies
between the cornea and the crystalline lens.
• optic nerve
o The optic nerve is a continuation of the axons of the ganglion cells in the
retina. It acts acts like a cable connecting the eye with the brain.
o The optic nerve is also called the cranial nerve II.
 • sclera
o The sclera is the white, opaque portion of the eye. It provides protection
and serves as an attachment for the extra ocular muscles which move the
eye.

Color Perception (how we see color)

There are about 120 million rods and about 6 to 7 million cones, in the human eye.

Rods are more sensitive than the cones but they are not sensitive to colour, they perceive
images as black, white and different shades of grey. More than one thousand times as
sensitive, the rods respond better to blue but very little to red light.

Each cone contains one of three pigments sensitive to either RED GREEN or BLUE.

Each pigment absorbs a particular wavelength of colour. There are short wavelength
cones that absorb blue light, middle wavelength cones that absorb green light, and long
wavelength cones that absorb red light.

When we observe a colour that has a wavelength between that of the primary colours red,
green and blue, combinations of the cones are stimulated. An example could be that
yellow light stimulates cones that are sensitive to red and to green light. The result is that
we can detect light of all colours in the visible spectrum.

People who suffer colour blindness have less numbers of particular cones than normal, so
they get colours confused.

If we lose our eye sight, the body adapts and receives colour rays through the skin. It
takes time for the body to adapt, but it has been shown that people who are blind, can
differentiate between different colours.