APPLIED ANATOMY

& PHYSIOLOGY OF
THE EYE

3. Visual System
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 LEARNING OUTCOMES
• At the end of the session, the students will be able to:

1. Describe the gross anatomical structures of the visual

system
2. Describe the physiological functions of the visual
system

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 1. ANATOMY OF VISUAL SYSTEM
• Visual system:
i. Binocular (stereoscopic / stereopsis) vision:
• Perception of depth & appreciation of 3-D nature of
images
• Both eyes focus only on a set of images vs panoramic
vision in animals with larger visual field
• Image further than fixation point (eye focus area
normally within 30m) refract on medial fovea for
clearer view; image within fixation point refract on
lateral fovea
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ii. Night (scotopic) vision
• High sensitivity of rods in dim light - stimulation of
up to 600 rods coverage on each bipolar cell, many
bipolar cells coverage on each ganglion cell
(receptive field of retina 1mm²)
• Visual pigment: rhodopsin (purple)
• Visual acuity decreases as images fall away from
fovea centralis (peripheral vision; millions of rods)
• However, cannot resolve finely detailed images but
a grainy (unclear) image to alert us to motion at
periphery 5
iii. Day (photopic) vision
• Visual acuity highest at fovea centralis (4000 cones; no rod
& other neurons to prevent interference of light falling on
cones)
• Visual pigment: photopsin
• Less sensitivity of cones to light - stimulation of 1 cone to
coverage of each bipolar cell, each bipolar cell coverage on
each ganglion cell (receptive field of retina only 2µm² =
0.002mm)
• Cannot function well in dim light - weakly stimulated cones
cannot collaborate to stimulate a ganglion cell
• However, can resolve finely detailed (sharp) images
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iv. Color (trichromatic) vision
• 3 type of cones based on photopsins (sensory
pigment) absorption peak:
a) Short-wavelength (S) / Blue
b) Medium-wavelength (M) / Green
c) Long-wavelenght (L) / Red
• Perception of colors is based on a mixture of nerve
signals representing cones with different
absorption peaks
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• Structures involved in visual system:
i. Cornea, lens, aqueous humor, lens, vitreous humor,
retina – refraction of light
ii. Ciliary muscles + lens – accomodation
iii.Iris + pupils – constriction
iv.Extrinsic eye muscles: medial rectus, superior +
inferior rectus – convergence
v. Retina: photoreceptors, bipolar cells + ganglion cells
– image formation + processing
vi.Optic nerve, optic chiasm, optic tract, lateral
geniculate nucleus in thalamus, optic radiation, 9
occipital lobe in cerebral cortex - visual pathway
Optic chiasm: When optic nerves
leave orbit through optic canal
hemidecussate (medial retina) on base
of brain at anterior pituitary

Optic tracts: Optic nerves that extend

beyond chiasm

Lateral geniculate nucleus in

thalamus: Most axons of optic tracts
end here: 3rd order neurones
**Some axons end in midbrain for
pupillary reflex , eye / head
coordination

Optic radiation: 3rd order neurones

that extend till cerebral cortex

Occipital lobe in cerebral cortex: A

primary visual area where concious
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visual perception occurs
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 2. PHYSIOLOGY OF
VISUAL SYSTEM
Physiology of visual system / vision:
i. Image formation: refraction, accomodation &
constriction
ii.Convergence
iii.Processing of visual input (sensory transduction) in
retina
iv. Visual pathway

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 i. IMAGE FORMATION:
REFRACTION
• Bending of light rays (except 90° angle)
• Light rays striking center of cornea pass through
straight but due to corneal curvature, it bent toward
center (cornea refract light more than lens)
• Aqueous & vitreous do not greatly alter path of light
• Lens just fine-tune images when shift focus between
near & far objects

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 i. IMAGE FORMATION:
ACCOMODATION
• Change in curvature of lens to focus on a nearby
object
• When view near object, lens become shorter &
thicker (more convex) to refract light more strongly
& focus divergent ray onto retina
• Closest object can still come into focus: near point of
vision
• Flexibility of lens decreases with age – near point
average from 9cm (10 years old) to 83cm (60 years
old)
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 i. IMAGE FORMATION:
CONSTRICTION
• Besides adjusting size based on brightness of light,
pupil constrict to focus on a nearby object (reduce
spherical aberration as diaphragm of a camera)
• Lens cannot refract light at edges thus producing
blurry around edges: spherical aberration
• Constriction of pupil to focus on a near object
minimizes peripheral light

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 ii. CONVERGENCE
• Medial movement of eyeballs toward a nearby
object in order to focus it on fovea
• Nearer the object, higher the degree of convergence
to maintain binocular vision
• Coordinated extrinsic muscles brings about
convergence
• If extrinsic eye muscles weak in one eye, diplopia
occurs because images fall on different part of retina
& brain sees 2 images
**Try pressing gently on one eyelid as you read this
slide… 24
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 iii. SENSORY TRANSDUCTION
• Conversion of light energy into action potential in
retina
• Pigmented retinal epithelium (camera film) – absorb
stray light to prevent reflection back & degrade
visual image
• Photoreceptor cells of neural retina: rods
(rhodopsin), cones (photopsin) & some ganglions
(melanopsin) absorb light & generate electrical signal
locally (graded potential)
• Rods & cones synapse with dendrites of bipolar cells
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 iv. VISUAL PATHWAY
• Bipolar cells of retina are 1st order neuron of visual
pathway
• Receive input from rods & cones to generate
electrical signal locally (graded potential)
• Multiple bipolars send input to most ganglions (some
ganglions act as photoreceptors)
• Ganglion cells respond to bipolar cells to produce
action potential that propagates to its axons - optic
nerve
• Optic nerves leave each orbit through optic canal &
then converge to form optic chiasm at anterior to 29
pituitary
• Within chiasm, hemidecussation nasal / medial half
of each optic nerve fibers occur (toward opposite
thalamus + cerebral hemisphere)
• Beyond this, fibers continue as a pair of optic tracts
• A few optic tract fibers from melanopsin
photoreceptors end in midbrain nuclei: superior
colliculi for visual reflexes of head and eye
movements + pretectal for pupillary & accomodation
reflexes
• Most axons of optic tracts end in lateral geniculate
nucleus of thalamus 30
• 3rd order neurons arise from lateral geniculate
nucleus form optic radiation of fibers in cerebral
white matter
• Optic radiation projects to primary visual cortex at
occipital lobe for conscious visual sensation
• The primary visual cortex connected to nearby
association area: parietal lobe + temporal lobe
(process retinal data - location, motion & other
qualities of images) + visual association area at
occipital lobe itself (visual memories to identify
images) 31
Lateral Geniculate

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 1. Retina
↓
2. Optic Nerves
↓
3. Optic Chiasm
↓
4. Optic Tract

5. Superior Colliculi Nucleus 5. Lateral Geniculate

+ Pretectal Nucleus, Nucleus, Thalamus
Midbrain ↓
6. Optic Radiation
↓
7. Primary Visual Area,
Cerebral Cortex
↓
8. Visual Association Area,33
Cerebral Cortex
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 REVISION
1. Describe the following visual system: (8 marks)
i. Stereoscopic
ii. Scotopic
iii.Photopic
iv.Trichromatic

2. Describe the physiology of vision (8 marks)

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3. State the visual field impairment if lesion occurs
from No 1 – 5 in below diagram (5 marks)

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