Learning Objectives

  • Appraise the nature of light as electromagnetic energy to explain the relation of wavelength to perception.
  • Sketch the anatomy of the eye to show how it makes vision possible.
  • Interpret how the retinae transduce light energy into a neural signal that is sent to the brain.
  • Illustrate how the visual system adapts to the dark and then adapts again to the light to help us adjust to changing light levels.
  • Diagram the receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells, and show how they need contrast to operate.
  • Judge the different refractive errors and eye diseases on how they affect the ability of the eye to see.