Visual

system
Medical physiology

Stephanie Lopez Perez

Luis Eduardo Padilla Medina
Basic concepts
Refraction
Refraction is the bending of a wave when it enters a
medium where its speed is different.

Refraction is responsible for image formation by lenses

and the eye.

The degree of refraction increases as a function of the

following: (1) the ratio of the two refractive indices of the
two transparent media; and (2) the degree of angulation
between the interface and the entering wave front.
Lens Convex lens focuses light rays

Concave lens diverges light rays

Fluid system
of the eye
Intraocular fluid maintains sufficient pressure in the
eyeball to keep it distented

Aqueous humor
Vitreous humor
 How do we
mantain an
image on focus?
Accommodation
It's controlled by parasympathetic nerves transmitted to the eye
through the third cranial nerve from the third nerve nucleus in the
brain stem

Stimulution of the parasympathic nerves contracts the ciliary

muscle fibers
Relaxes the lens ligaments, allowing the lens to become thicker
and increase its refractive power
Visual acuity
The normal visual acuity of the human eye for discriminating
between point sources of light is about 25 seconds of arc.

This means that a person with normal visual acuity looking at

two bright pinpoint spots of light 10 meters away can barely
distinguish the spots as separate entities when they are 1.5
to 2 millimeters apart.

Second of arch: a full circle consists of 360 degrees. One degree can be
divided into 60 minutes of arc. These minutes of arc should not be
confused with minutes of time. Each minute of arc contains 60 seconds of
arc, so a second of arc is an angle that is 1/3,600 of a degree.
Depth perception
A person normally perceives distance by three main
means:

The sizes of the images of known objects on the

retina

The phenomenon of moving parallax

The phenomenon of stereopsis.

Why is the retina
important?
 Retina
Is the light sensitive portion of the eye that
contains the cones and the rods
Excited---> Layers of neurons---> Optic
nerve fibers and cerebral cortex

1. Light passes through the lens system of the

eye
2. Passes the vitreous humor
3. Enters the retina from the inside of the eye
4. Visual acuity is decreased by this passage,
except on the foveal region
 Foveal Region
The fovea is a minute area in the center of the
retina, especially capable of acute and detailed
vision

The central fovea only contains cones and they

have especially long and slender bodies

Foveal region: blood vessels, ganglion cells,

inner nuclear layer cells, and plexiform layers are
displaced to one side, allowing light to pass
unimpeded to the cones
 Cones & Rods
Outer segment
Contains a lot of discs. Here's the light-sensitive photochemical
(rhodopsin [retinal and opsin]/color pigments-photopsin [iodine and
opsin]-40% of the outer segment)

Inner segment
Contains cytoplasm and its cytoplasmic organelles,
including the mitochondria

Synaptic Body
Portion that connects with subsequent neuronal
cells (horizonal & bipolar cells)
 Color Vision

Cones are selectively sensitive to different colors:

blue, green or red.
Color pigments: Blue, green and red sensitive
pigment
Rodes: Rhodopsin-Retinal visual
cycle
Excitation of the rod in reponse
to light
1. Sodium flows into a photoreceptor through
cGMP-gated channels
2. Potassium flows out of the cell through
nongated potassium channels
3. A sodium-potassium pump maintains steady
When rhodopsin
levels of them inside the cell
decomposes, it
decreases the rod
membrane
In the dark, cGMP levels are high, and sodium
conductace for
channels are open
sodium ions in the
In the light cGMP levels are reduced and the
outer segment,
sodium channels close, causing
causing
hyperpolarization of the cell
hyperpolarization
Phototransduction
1. Light absorbed by photoactivation of the
electrons in the retinal portion
2. Rhodopsin activated
3. Which stimulates G-Protein Transducin to
activate
4. Which stimulates cGMP Phosphodiesterase
to activate too
5. cGMP Phosphodiesterase catalizes the
breakdown of cGMP to 5'-GMP
6. Sodium channels close
7. Hyperpolarization of the photoreceptor
occurs
The excitation "cascade"

Within about 1 second, rhodopsinkinase

inactivates the activated rhodopsin
(metarhodopsin II)
The entire cascade reverses back to normal
state with open sodium channels

That's why the extreme sensitivity of the rods

under dark conditions
Neural function of the retina
1. Photoreceptors
2. Horizontal cells
3. Bipolar cells
4. Amacrine cells
5. Ganglion cells
6. Retina (inhibitory signals and
important in the degree of
contrast in the visual image)
 Neurotransmitters
Cones and Rods release glutamate at their
synapses with the bipolar cells
The transmitter of the bipolar, horizontal and
interplexiform cells are unclear, but some
horizontal cells and many types of amacrine
cells release inhibitory transmitters
ALL THE RETINAL NEURONS Electronic Conduction
Conduct their visual signals by electronic
conduction: EXCEPTIONS
Direct flow of electric current, in the
Ganglion cells
neuronal cytoplasm and nerve axons from
Always transmit visual signals via Action
the point of excitation all the way to the
Potentials all the way to the brain
output synapses
Ocassionally Amacrine cells
It allows graded conduction of signal
Not much information about it
strength and not the all or none principle
Also cones and rods (from outer segment to
synaptic body)
Horizontal cells
They connect laterally between the synaptic
bodies of the rods and cones and with the
dendrites of the Bipolar cells.

Their outputs are alwats inhibitory-GABA

Instead of the excitatory signal spreading

widely in the retina because of spreading
dendritic and axonal trees in the plexiform
layers, transmission through the horizontal cells
puts a stop to this spread by providing lateral
inhibition in the surrounding areas = Proper
visual contrast
Bipolar cells

This allows half bipolar cells to transmit

positive signals and the other half
negative signals (used in transmitting
visual information to the brain)
It also allows a second mechanism for
lateral inhibition
Amacrine cells
Direct pathway for rod vision
Strong response to the onset of a continuing
visual signal (dies rapidly)
Strong response to the offset of visual
signals
Respose to a change in illumination,
irrespective of direction
Response to movement of a spot across the
retina in a specific direction
Ganglion cells
They transmit signals from the retina to the
optic nerve to the brain
They transmit repetitve action potentials
because of the distance involved
How is it that our
eyes adapt to
different light
conditions?
Dark Adaptation
If a person spends a considerable length of time in brightly
lighted surroundings and then moves to a dimly lighted
environment, the retinas slowly become more sensitive to light.

The retinal and opsins in the rods and cones are

converted back into the light-sensitive pigments.

Vitamin A is converted back into retinal to increase light-

sensitive pigments.
Light Adaptation
When one passes suddenly from a dim to a brightly lighted
environment, the light seems intensely and even uncomfortably
bright until the eyes adapt to the increased illumination.

Large portions of the photochemicals in both the rods and

the cones will have been reduced to retinal and opsins

Much of the retinal of both the rods and the cones will have
been converted into vitamin A
Pupillary diameter
The major function of the iris is to increase the amount of light that
enters the eye during darkness and to decrease the amount of
light that enters the eye in daylight

Stimulation of the parasympathetic nerves excites the

pupillary sphincter muscle---> decreasing the pupillary
diameter---> MIOSIS

Stimulation of the sympathetic nerves excites the radial

fibers of the iris and---> Pupillary dilation---> MYDRIASIS
Visual pathways?
Visual Pathaways
Dorsal lateral geniculate
nucleus of the thalamus
-It relays visual information from the optic tract to the
visual cortex by way of the optic radiation. Gives a high
degree of spatial fidelity all the way from the retina to the
visual cortex

-"Gates" the transmission of signals to the visual cortex,

allows how much of the signal is going to pass. Receives
signals from:
1. Corticofugal fibers.
2. Reticular areas of the mesensephalon
 Divided in:
Layers II, III, and V (from ventral to dorsal) receive signals
from the lateral half of the ipsilateral retina, whereas layers
I, IV, and VI receive signals from the medial half of the
retina of the opposite eye.
Layers I and II. Magnocellular layers
Layers III through VI. Parvocellular layers
Where does the visual
information goes after
leaving the dorsal
lateral geniculate
nucleus?
Visual cortex
Is located primarily on the medial
aspect of the occipital lobes.

Is divided into a primary visual

cortex and secondary visual areas.
Primary
visual cortex
Lies in the calcarine fissure area , extending forward
from the occipital pole on the medial aspect of each
occipital cortex

This area is the terminus of direct visual signals from

the eyes.

Incoming visual information is dissected into its

component elements (e.g., orientation, color, depth,
motion)

The primary visual cortex has six distinct layers

Primary
visual cortex
Corresponding points of the two retinas transmit visual
signals to different neuronal layers of the lateral geniculate
body, and these signals, in turn, are relayed to parallel
neurons in the visual cortex.

Interactions occur between these cortical neurons to cause

interference excitation in specific neurons when the two
visual images are not “in register”

This excitation presumably provides the signal that is

transmitted to the oculomotor apparatus to cause
convergence or divergence or rotation of the eyes so that
fusion can be re-established.
Primary
visual cortex
The axons from the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) that
form the magnocellular pathway end in layer 4.

Many of the axons that form the parvocellular pathway

also end in layer 4.

Layers 2 and 3 of the cortex contain clusters of cells

that contain a high concentration of the mitochondrial
enzyme cytochrome oxidase. The clusters have been
named "blobs" and they are concerned with color vision.
 Primary
visual cortex
Vertical Neuronal Columns in the Visual Cortex

The visual cortex is organized structurally into several million

vertical columns of neuronal cells.

Each column has a diameter of 30 to 50 micrometers.

Each column represents a functional unit.

Each of the visual vertical columns has perhaps 1000 or more

neurons.

After the optic signals terminate in layer IV, they are further
processed as they spread outward and inward along each
vertical column unit.
Secondary
visual areas of
the cortex
Lies lateral, anterior, superior, and inferior to the
primary visual cortex.

Secondary signals are transmitted to these areas for

analysis of visual meanings.

After leaving the primary visual cortex, the visual

information is analyzed in two major pathways in the
secondary visual areas.
Secondary visual areas
of the cortex - pathways

Analysis of Third-Dimensional Position, Gross Form, and

Motion of Objects

This pathway reveals where every object is during each

instant and whether it is moving.

The signals transmitted in this position-form-motion

pathway are mainly from the large M optic nerve fibers of
the retinal M ganglion cells, transmitting rapid signals but
depicting only black and white with no color.
Secondary visual areas
of the cortex - pathways
Analysis of Visual Detail and Color

This pathway is concerned with such visual feats

as recognizing letters, reading, determining the
texture of surfaces, determining detailed colors of
objects, and deciphering from all this information
what the object is and what it means.
Eye movement
The eye movements are controlled by three pairs of
muscles:

The medial and lateral recti: contract to move the

eyes from side to side

The superior and inferior recti: contract to move the

eyes upward or downward.

The superior and inferior obliques: rotate the

eyeballs to keep the visual fields in the upright
position.
Fixation
Fixation movements are controlled by two neuronal mechanisms:

Voluntary fixation mechanism, allows a person to move the

eyes voluntarily to find the object on which he or she wants to
fix the vision.

Involuntary fixation mechanism that holds the eyes firmly on

the object once it has been found.
Fixation
Saccadic movements

Saccadic movements occur when a visual scene is moving

continually before the eyes.

The eyes fix on one highlight after another in the visual field,
jumping from one to the next at a rate of two to three jumps per
second.

Saccades occur so rapidly that no more than 10% of the total time is
spent moving the eyes, with 90% of the time being allocated to the
fixation sites.
Fixation
Fixation on Moving Objects

A highly developed cortical mechanism automatically

detects the course of movement of an object and then
rapidly develops a similar course of movement for the
eyes.
Vision & Equilibrium
Balance is reliant on three sensory motor systems that
work together: the vestibular system, the propioceptive
system and the visual system
The vestibular system is directly connected to about
20% of the eye's nerve fibers. It's also connected to
the bones and soft tissue of the inner ear, a region that
dictactes balances and coordination.
The variants in the images that our eyes see tell us how
close an object is to us, this is imporant for maintaining
balance.
References
John E. Hall. (2020). Guyton and Hall Textbook of
Medical Physiology. 14th ed. ELSEVIER
de Sousa A, A, Sherwood C, C, Hof P, R, Zilles K:
Lamination of the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus of
Catarrhine Primates. Brain Behav Evol 2013;81:93-
108. Available from: 10.1159/000346495
Covington BP, Al Khalili Y. Neuroanatomy, Nucleus
Lateral Geniculate. (2020). In: StatPearls. Available
from:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541137/