CNS 3 Visual System

Q Describe the structural and functional components of the eye

The location of the eyes enables us to see length, width, depth and distance of
an object. The eye has three layers: the sclera, choroid and retina.

Sclera
- the outer white layer that maintains the shape of the eye.
o Visible white part of the eye
- Muscles attached to the sclera control eye movements.

Choroid
- the middle layer that contains the blood vessels that nourish retina

Cornea
- a clear circular area in the sclera where light enters the eye.
- Thin later at te front of eye, over aqueous humour
- Refract the light
o Main refractory structure along with lens
- Protects from accidents
o Doesn’t allow foreign particles inside
 Iris
- Controls the size of the puple
- Determines the colour of the eye
- the colored smooth muscle surrounding the pupil, which adjusts the size of
the opening according to the brightness of light.
o Not all light passing through cornea reaches photoreceptors
- Two sets of smooth muscle
o Circular (constrictor) muscle
o Radial (dilator) muscle
- Opening in the centre of the iris through which light enters the interior portion
of the eye is pupil
o The size of this opening can be adjusted by contraction of iris muscles
 Circular muscle contracts  pupil gets smaller
 Radial muscle contracts  pupil gets larger
Pupil
- the circular opening in the front of the choroid.
- Small opening at the center of the iris where light enters

Lens
- located behind the pupil
o light that enters through the pupil falls on the lens
- transparent, flexible bicomplex structure that bends or refracts light rays so
they focus on the nerve cells of the retina.

Chambers
- filled with a watery fluid that gives shape to the eye and helps refract the light
rays.

Anterior fluid
- called the aqueous humor

Posterior fluid
- called the vitreous humor.
 Retina
- located at the back of the eye
- the inner layer of the eyeball
- where image is formed
- contains the nerve cells
o two kinds of nerve cells: cones and rods
o the message is transferred along the optic
nerve
 optic nerve transfers message to the
brain

Rods
- more sensitive but do not detect clolour well
- adapted for low light

Cones
- adapted to detect colours and work well in bright light
- sense color, the highest concentration of cones in the fovia centralis.
- 3types, each type responds stronglt to different wavelength range
o Less sensitive than rods and require more light to be stimulated
because each bipolar cell associated with a cone is only associated
with that cone
 Results higher acuity

Fovea
- The most sensitive part of the retina in terms of image formation
- Has the highest concentration of cones
o Only composed of cones
o Highest acuity in retina
Q Explain the concepts of refraction, image formation, accommodation

Refraction
- Important structures for eyes’ refractive ability
o Cornea and lens
 Cornea’s refractive ability remains constant because curvature
doesn’t change
 Lens refractive ability can be adjusted by adjusting curvature
- Bending of light ray
- greater the curvature, greater the degree of bending and stronger the lens
o convex surface curves outward
 converge light rays, bringing them closer
o concave surface curves inward
 diverge light rays, spreading them farther apart

(a) The rays from a distant (far) light source (more than 6 metres from the eye) are parallel by the time the
rays reach the eye.
(b) The rays from a near light source (less than 6 metres from the eye) are still diverging when they reach
the eye. A longer distance is required for a lens of a given strength to bend the diverging rays from a near
light source into focus compared with the parallel rays from a distant light source.
(c) To focus on both distant and near light sources in the same distance (the distance between the lens
and retina), a stronger lens must be used for the near source.

Accommodation
- ability to adjust the strength and shape of the lens
o to alter the refractive power
o bring objects that are closer to the eye into sharp focus
- strength depends on its shape, which in turn is regulated by the ciliary muscle

Accommodation reflex (mechanism)

- an action of the eye, when it tries to focus from distant, to near images.
- This reflex produces a change in the shape of the lens, allowing for various
focal points.
- This change, in the shape of the lens, is controlled by the ciliary muscles
o When the ciliary muscle contracts, the diameter of the ring muscle is
reduced, and suspensory ligaments decrease in tension.
 Decreased suspensory tension results in more spherical shape of
the lens.
 More spherical shape of lens increases its refractive ability,
further bending light rays
 Lens is more convex and stronger for near vision
o When the ciliary muscle relaxes, suspensory ligaments tighten and
flatten the lens
 Lens is flat for far vision
- This accommodation reflex, helps alter the focal distance of the eye, allowing
near, or distance objects, to properly focus on the retina.

The process of which the lens adjust its shape in order to ensure tha an image is formed on the
retina, no matter the distance of the the object from lens.
If the object is too far, image will from behind retina, vice verca
 Image Formation
- Result of signaling from the cones and rods in the back layer of the retina
o Cones and Rods: cells which house G protein coupled receptors
- Roles of cones and rods: these are cells which house G-protein coupled
receptors.
Brief mechanism
- Both cones and rods house molecules that will change structure upon
stimulation by light.  Cones only respond to specific ranges of
wavelengths.  Photons will cause changes in the structures of specific
molecules housed in G-Protein coupled receptors, G-proteins will be
activated to stimulate enzymes, the enzyme will catalyze the formation of
2ndary messenger.  This secondary messenger (cGMP in the case of rods)
will inhibit the release of inhibitory NT onto the bipolar cells which are next in
line.
o By preventing the release of the inhibitory NT, the rod allows
more APs to be transmitted from the bipolar cells to the ganglion
cells which will carry the signal to the cortex via the optic nerve.
Q Describe the molecular and neural processing of visual signals in the
retina

Primary responsibility of the eye

: to focus light rays on the rods and cones, which transform the light energy to
electrical signal that are sent to CNS

3 layers of excitable cells in the neural portion of the retina

i. Outermost layer (closest to choroid)
o Contains rods and cones
o Light sensitive ends face choroid (away from incoming light)
ii. Bipolar cells
o Middle layer
iii. Ganglion cells
o Inner layer

- Light passes through all layers of retina before it reaches photoreceptor cells
(rods and cones)
- When light hits photoreceptors, it interacts with photopigments in receptor
cells (rods and cones) and relay onto bipolar cells
- Bipolar cells synapses with ganglion cells
- Ganglion cells relay visual information to thalamus
 Photoreceptors
i. Outer segment
o Lies closest to the eye’s exterior
o Faces choroid
o Detects light stimulus

ii. Inner segment

iii. Synaptic terminal

o Closest to eye’s interior
o Faces bipolar cells
o Transmits signal generated in the
photoreceptor on light stimulation

Outer segment
- Consists of photopigment molecules
o Activation of photopigments generate
action potential which transmits this info
to the brain for visual processing
- 4 different Photopigment
o One in the rods and one in each three types of cones

a) Rhodopsin
 Rod photopigment absorbs all visible wavelengths
 Provides vision only in shades of gret by detecting intensities, not colours

b) Three types of cones

 Red, green, and blue cones
 Respond selectively to various wavelengths of light, making colour vision
possible
 Photoreceptors are
- inhibited by their adequate stimulus (hyperpolarized by light)
- excited in the absence of stimulation (depolarized by darkness)

Retina is made of rods and cones

- rods convert light to neuroimpulse
o turn off when light is present
o turn on when light is absent
 this occurs via phototransduction cascade
 set of steps that turns the rods off

Opsin: protein that is integral part of disc membrane

Retinene: derivative of Vitamin A: light absorbing part of photopigment
 Rods
Photopigments in the rods are called rhodopsin
i. when proton hits retinene, it is converted from its cis form to trans form
ii. this changes opsin’s conformational, causing it to stimulate a G-protein
called Transducin
iii. Transducin activates phosphodiesterase which cleaves cGMP in the
cell
iv. Lower cGMP level causes reduced NT release from the terminal ends
of the cell
Why?
 Because cGMP acts on the Na+ ions in the disk’s membranes,
allowing for AP to provoke NT secretion
 This results in amplified signal being related to the bipolar
and ganglion cells

Phototransduction
- Phototransduction is the process that occurs in the retina where light is
converted into electrical signals that can be understood by the nervous
system.
- primarily takes place in photoreceptor cells, of which there are two main
types: rods and cones.
- In the dark (rods)
I. Sodium ions flow into rod cells through ion channels that are activated by
cGMP
a. This influx of positively charged ions causes cells to remain in
depolarized state
b. Continuous release of neurotransmitter glutamate
II. Inside the rod cell there is a substance called rhodopsin, which is made up
of a protein called opsin and a molecule called retinal, which is capable of
absorbing light.
III. When retinal absorbs light, its configuration changes (cis to trans)
a. Change in configuration causes activation of transducin
IV. Transducin activates phosphodiesterase, which begins breaking down
cGMP to GMP
a. As cGMP levels fall, the ion (Na) channels that were opened by
cGMP begin to close.
b. Thus, less sodium enters the cell
c. the cell becomes hyperpolarized due to efflux of potassium ions
d. consequently, glutamate release decrease
V. Decrease in neurotransmitter rleease (glutamate) acts as a signal that a
light stimulus is present
VI. Rod cell retunrs to its normal state when activated rhodopsin is inactivated
VII. Arrestin (protein) binds to rhodopsin and blocks ability to activate
transducin
a. Cascade is unable to continue

Photoreceptor activity in the light

- on exposure to light, [cGMP] is decreased though series of biochemical steps
triggered by photopigmenation activation

i. retinene changes shape when encounters light

ii. change in conformation activates photopigment, which activates
transducin, which activates phosphodiesterase
iii. phosphodiesterase degrade cGMP and decreases the concentration of
cGMP
iv. decreased [cGMP] triggers closing of Na channel
a. closure of Na channel stops the depolarizing Na leak and cause
hyperpolarization
Q Explain the basis and advantage of OFF/ON ganglion cells

On center ganglion cells vs off surround ganglion cells

there are 2 types of ganglion cells in the visual pathway

o on centre cells react very strongly to light that in hits the exact centre
of the receptor cells (cone/rod).
o The off-centre cells respond very strongly (in terms of APs) to light that
doesn't hit the centre of the receptor cells.
- The presence of these 2 types of ganglion cells allows for a heightened
ability to distinguish between points, allowing for better discriminatory vision

On center
Configuration where rods are directly connected to a bipolar cell that is directly
connected to a ganglion cell is known as the centre of the receptor field
- Any stimulation that results in activity of rods that are connected to bipolar
cells, which are directly connected to ganglion cells are considered to be ‘in
the centre of the ganglion cell’s receptive field’
Rods  bipolar cell  ganglion cell

Surround
Configuration where rods are connected to a bipolar cell, that’s connected to
horizontal cell which is connected to ganglion cell
Rods  bipolar cells  horizontal cells  ganglion cells
- Any stimulation that result in activity of rods that are connected to bipolar cell,
horizontal cell, then ganglion cell is considered to be ‘in the surround of the
ganglion cell’s receptive field’

a specific type of response is stimulated depending if ganglion cell is on/off

- Stimulation from the on-centre  increase in membrane potential
(depolarization)
- Stimulation from the off-surround  decrease in membrane potential
(hyperpolarization)
 o When horizontal cells are stimulated by bipolar cells, horizontal cells
inhibit ganglion cells
Q Describe the neural pathway for vision

Ray of light coming from left visual field hits the nasal side of the left eye
Ray of light coming from left visual field hit the temporal side right eye

Ray of light coming from right visual field hits nasal side of right eye
Ray of light coming from right visual field hits temporal side of left eye

Optic nerve existing back of the eye goes into the brain
- Optic nerve for both eyes converges
o Known as optic chiasm

All lights that hit the temporal side of eyeball does not cross optic chiasm
- Within the retina, light hitting the temporal located fibers have already been
optically crossed over
All lights that hit the nasal side of eyeball cross optic chiasm
- Takes the right visual field and allows all the information entering the eye from
right visual field to enter left side of the brain

: Signals from the light-detecting rods and cones are relayed to bipolar cells
which convert the NT signal into APs. The more they are stimulated, the more
they will chemically stimulate ganglion cells next in line. Stimulation of ganglion
cells results in a signal that can be transmitted to regions in the visual cortex in
the occipital lobe. This is where the image is actually produced

Version 2
The neural pathway for vision starts with the stimulation of photoreceptors in the
retina at the back of the eye. These photoreceptors convert light into electrical
signals which are then transmitted to bipolar cells, which in turn stimulate the
retinal ganglion cells. The axons of the retinal ganglion cells form the optic nerve,
which carries the electrical signals from the eye to the brain.
 
Once the electrical signals reach the brain, they are processed in several stages.
The signals first reach the thalamus, where they are transmitted to the primary
visual cortex (area V1) located in the occipital lobe of the brain. This area is
responsible for basic visual processing such as edge detection and shape
recognition.
 
From the primary visual cortex, the signals are then transmitted to other areas of
the brain such as the secondary visual cortex (area V2), the middle temporal
cortex (MT), and the inferior temporal cortex (IT). These areas of the brain are
responsible for more advanced visual processing such as color recognition,
motion detection, and object recognition.
 
The final stage of visual processing involves the integration of visual information
with other sensory information and memory. This occurs in the frontal lobe of the
brain, allowing for the formation of a complete visual perception of the world.
 
Overall, the neural pathway for vision involves a complex series of processing
stages that allow us to see and understand the world around us.

The neural pathway for vision involves a series of steps that allow us to perceive
and process what we see. Here is a simplified explanation:

 Light enters the eye and is focused on the retina, which contains
photoreceptor cells.
 Photoreceptor cells convert the light into electrical signals and send these
signals to bipolar cells.
 Bipolar cells then send the signals to ganglion cells, which create action
potentials and transmit the electrical signals to the brain through the optic
nerve.
 The optic nerve carries the signals to the brain, where they are processed
and interpreted in the visual cortex. This is where the brain creates a visual
image from the information received from the eyes.
 The visual cortex then sends signals to other parts of the brain to help us
identify, understand, and respond to what we are seeing.