PHYSIOLOGY

OF
VISION
Prof. Vajira Weerasinghe
Dept of Physiology,
Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya

Vision
Eye receives light stimulus & transforms it into a
nerve impulse which runs along the optic nerve
reaching the visual cortex & gives rise to visual
sensation
Eyeball is a spherical structure with a diameter of 24
mm

Coverings of the eye ball

There are 3 layers
sclera
choroid
retina

Outer coat
this is protective
anteriorly (1/6) it is transparent
- cornea
posteriorly it is white, opaque, avascular - sclera
sclerocorneal junction

Middle coat
vascular
anteriorly (iris)
middle

- circular diaphragm with pupil

- ciliary body (intraocular muscle)

inner aspect contain ciliary processes which secrete

aqueous humour

posteriorly

- choroid

Inner coat
this is sensory
retina
contains nerves
transparent

retina
optic disc: where optic nerve comes out of the
eyeball, blind spot, no vision at this point
macula: the most sensitive spot, cones
concentrated. fovea is the centre of the
macula
macula
fovea
blind spot

retina
ophthalmoscopy (examination of the eye using an
illuminated source)
inside of the retina can be seen
optic disc containing blind spot
macula & fovea
retinal blood vessels

Lens
crystalline structure
biconvex lens, posterior surface more convex
suspended from the ciliary body by fine delicate fibres called zonule or
suspensory ligament of the lens
covered by a capsule

posterior compartment
lens & zonule divide eyeball into
posterior compartment
containing a transparent jelly-like structure called
vitreous humour

anterior compartment
lens & zonule divide eyeball into
anterior compartment
contains aqueous humour
subdivided by iris into
anterior chamber
posterior chamber

communicated by pupil

seeing from front

pupil
iris
cornea
sclera

Aqueous humour
clear fluid, volume is about 250 ul
water 98.9%
other:
protein, non-protein N, glucose, Na, K, Cl, ascorbic acid, pyruvate, lactate, dissolve O2
lower conc of protein, urea & glucose than plasma

osmotic pressure higher than plasma

secreted by ciliary processes, ultrafiltrate of plasma
pass through posterior chamber -> anterior chamber
absorbed back into canal of Schlemm in sclera

intra ocular pressure

this is about 10-20 mmHg

maintained by aqueous humour
measured using a tonometer
elevated intraocular pressure occurs in glaucoma
glaucoma may cause blindness

PHYSICS OF VISION
OPTICS

eye as a camera
eye acts as a camera
in a camera
light rays coming from an object passes through
the aperture & forms an image on a film
pinhole camera

box camera

eye as a camera
in the eye
pupil act as the aperture & its size can vary
lens can change its curvature

f = focal length
power of a lens

f = 1 m: power = 1 D
f = 2 m: power = 0.5 D
f = 0.5 m: power = 2 D
+ 1 D: converging lens
- 1 D: diverging lens

1
---------f (m)

 as light passes through the lens system several

interfaces are traversed
their refractive indices are different
Air
1.0

Cornea
1.38

Aqueous humour
1.33

lens
1.40

vitreous humour
1.34

Reduced eye
if all the refractive surfaces are added together
& represented by a single lens
it is known as the reduced eye
focal length = 24 mm
power = + 59 D
Nodal point = 17 mm in front of retina

 Air/cornea interface (1.0/1.38): produces a significant

refractive power
Aqu hum/lens/vit hum interfaces (1.33/1.4/1.38):
produces only a minimum refractive power
Power of the lens is only 20 D
But it has the ability to vary this power by

Accommodation
power of the lens can be increased from 20D
to 34D in a young child
suspensory ligaments in the zonule pulls the
lens & make it less convex
ciliary muscles
zonule
lens

parasympathetic activity ->

-> contracts ciliary muscles
-> relaxes suspensory ligaments in the zonule
-> lens become more convex
-> power of the lens increases
-> subject can focus near objects

ciliary muscles
zonule
lens

 with age this ability decreases

power of accommodation decreases

14 D up to 40 yrs
2D at 40-50 yrs
0 D at 70 yrs
thereafter constant focal length

presbyopia: is the lack of accommodation, occurs with age,

requires + glass to increase power

ciliary muscles
zonule
lens

errors of refraction
emmetropia is the normal eye
refractive errors
myopia
hypermetropia
presbyopia
astigmatism

MYOPIA

shortsightedness
near objects can be focussed
far objects focuses in front of retina
this could be due to
lens having more refractive power
eyeball being longer than normal

correction is done by -D lenses (concave lenses)

these lenses will move the image back to retina

MYOPIA
emmetropia:
unaccommodated eye
emmetropia:
accommodated eye

myopia:
distant objects, forms in front
of retina

correction:
- lens, decreases power

HYPERMETROPIA
farsightedness
objects are focused behind the retina
this could be due to
lens having less refractive power
eyeball being shorter than normal

correction is done by +D lenses (convex lenses)

these lenses will bring the image on to retina

HYPERMETROPIA
emmetropia:
unaccommodated eye
emmetropia:
accommodated eye

hypermetropia:
image forms behind the retina

correction:
+ lens, increases power

ASTIGMATISM
spherical aberration of the cornea (& lens) resulting
in an image with mutiple focal points which is not
clear
correction is done by spherical or cylindrical lenses
these lenses will correct the disparity in corneal
curvature

PRESBYOPIA
emmtropia:
unaccommodated eye
emmtropia:
accommodated eye

presbyopia:
lack of accommodation

presbyopia:
+ lens, increases accommodation

Contact lenses
at present contact lenses are widely used

Photochemistry of vision
photochemicals:
rods contain rhodopsin, cones contain similar
chemicals

rhodospin
outer segment contain rhodopsin or visual
purple
consists of protein scotopsin & carotenoid pigment
retinal (or retinene). this is 11-cis retinal

decomposition of rhodopsin by light

11-cis retinal combines with scotopsin to form rhodospin

when light is absorbed by rhodopsin
decomposition of rhodopsin starts
extremely unstable barthorhodopsin->lumirhodopsin->
metarhodopsin I -> metarhodopsin II
(metarhodopsin II also called activated rhodopsin starts
neural activity)
in few seconds it is converted to sotopsin & all trans
retinal

Neural activity

reformation of rhodopsin
conversion of all-trans retinal into 11-cis retinal
in dark this reaction is catalysed by retinal isomerase
once 11-cis retinal is formed, it combines with socotpsin to
form rhodospin
wait until light is absorbed again

role of vitamin A
alternative route of reformation of rhodospin
all-trans retinal is first converted to all-trans retinol (vitamin
A)
all-trans retinol is converted to 11-cis retinol by enzyme
isomerase
then 11-cis retinol is converted to 11-cis retinal
when there is excessive retinal in the retina it is converted to
retinol (vitamin A)

Night blindness
vitamin A deficiency
not enough quantities of retinal to reform
rhodopsin
but in daytime cones can still be excited

Action potentials
excitation of rods causes
hyperpolarisation rather than depolarisation
increased negativity of the membrane
this is due to decreased permeability to Na
inner segment pumps Na out
outer segment is very leaky to Na
normally membrane is -40mV (inside)

when excited outer segment prevents Na influx

inner segment continually pumps Na out
increased negativity inside -> hyperpolarisation
inside becomes -80mV

in light

in dark

a rod
outer
segment

Na+
Na+

Na+

Na+

inner
segment

membrane
potential

- 40 mV

when light strikes

the outer segment,
Na+ channels
close
Na+ influx ceases
inner segment
pumps Na+ out
leads to
hyperpolarised
membrane

Na+

Na+

Na+

- 80 mV

Neurotransmitter
Neurotransmitter in the visual receptor cells
glutamate

Pigments in the cones

photochemicals in cones are similar to rhodopsin
(scotopsin + retinal)
cones contain photopsin + retinal
3 different types of photochemicals are present in
cones, their light absorption spectra are different
cone pigment
wavelength of peak absorption (nm)
blue-sensitive pigment
445
green-sensitive pigment
535
red-sensitive pigment
570

rods have peak sensitivity at 505 nm

light absorption spectrum

rods

400

Ultra
violet

500
wavelength

600

700

violet indigo blue green yellow orange red

visible spectrum

Infra
red

Light Adaptation
retinal sensitivity depends on the amount of chemical pigment
if a person is in bright light for some time, large amount of
photochemical is reduced to retinal and opsin
retinal converted to vitamin A
this reduces the sensitivity of the retina
this is known as light adaptation
now if the person goes into a dark room
he cannot see any object
reason: severe reduction in retinal sensitivity

Dark Adaptation
if the person remains in dark for some time
then the retinal sensitivity increases
this increases exponentially
this consists of two parts
initial quick phase: due to adaptation of cones
later slow phase: due to adaptation of rods

100000
10000

ad

r
ap od
tat
io
n

retinal 1000
sensitivity

10
1
0

ad con
ap e
ta t
io
n

100

10

20
30
40
minutes in dark

50

retinal
threshold

10

20
30
40
minutes in dark

50

Colour Vision
human eye can see any colour due to a combination of red,
green and blue monochromatic light in different
proportions

Colour Vision
since the 3 different types of cones are sensitive to
different colours
differential stimulation of 3 types of cones determine the
colour combination seen
eg:

orange stimulate R:G:B cones in

blue
yellow

99:42:0 %
0:0:97
83:83:0

white light stimulate 3 types of cones equally

Colour Vision

Colour Vision
Tested using Ishiharas isochromatic charts

Colour Blindness

Total colour bilndness is extremely rare

Impaired appreciation of colour can happen
Red green blindness is the commonest type of colour blindness
cannot distinguish red from green

Transmission is genetical
X linked recessive

There are different types of colour blindness

Monochromacy
Have only one type of cones

Dichormacy
Have only two types of cones in the retina
protanopia
a person with loss of red cones

deuteranopia
a person with loss of green cones

tritanopia
a person with loss of blue cones

Visual pathway
visual field
is divided into temporal (lateral) and nasal (medial) halves,overlap of nasal halves
Retina
temporal field corresponds to medial half of retina & vice versa
optic nerve
lateral & medial retinal fibres maintain spatial arrangement
optic chiasma
at the level of pituitary, only medial retinal fibres cross to the other side
optic tract
up to the geniculate
lateral geniculate body
synapse
occipital cortex
optic tract continues as geniculocalcarine tract up to the occipital cortex

visual field

retina
optic nerve

optic chiasma
optic tract
lateral
geniculate
body

occipital cortex

Lesions along the visual pathway

a lesion may arise at different points along the
visual pathway
gives rise to different types of visual field
defects known as hemianopia (half blindness)
perimetry is a test which can detect visual
field defects

Left

Right

normal visual fields

left eye blindness

bitemporal hemianopia
right homonymous hemianopia

right homonymous hemianopia

Pupillary light reflex

Pupil undergoes the change in size
reflexely in response to a change in
illumination
This reflex is useful in increasing
the amount of light entering the eye
when the illumination is dim which
helps dark adaptation
It also makes the pupil narrow in
bright light which improves the
depth of focus

Two type of light reflexes

Direct light reflex
Constriction of pupil of the eye in which the light is
directed is called direct light reflex

Consensual light reflex

Constriction of pupil of the other eye is called
consensual light reflex

Pathway
Light -> retina
-> optic nerve
-> optic tract
-> collateral from the optic tract
-> superior colliculi and pretectal
area (midbrain)
-> efferent originates in the
parasympathetic part of the
oculomotor nucleus (EdingerWestphal nucleus)
-> ciliary ganglion
-> sphincter pupillae

Visual Acuity
Acuteness or clearness of vision
It is the degree to which the details and
contours of objects are perceived
It is defined in terms of the minimum
separable (shortest) distance by which
two lines can be separated and still be
perceived as two lines
Thus the minimum separable in a normal
individual corresponds to a visual angle
of about 1 minute
Clinically Snellens charts are used to
determine visual acuity