00:00Welcome to 2-Minute Neuroscience, where I simplistically explain neuroscience topics in 2 minutes or less.
00:04In this installment, I will discuss the retina.
00:07The retina contains the neural component of the eye.
00:10When light reaches the back of the eye, it enters the cellular layers of the retina.
00:14The cells of the retina that detect and respond to light, known as photoreceptors, are located at the very back
00:20of the retina.
00:21There are two types of photoreceptors, rods and cones.
00:24Rods allow us to see in dim light, but don't allow for the perception of color.
00:28Cones, on the other hand, allow us to perceive color under normal lighting conditions.
00:32Throughout most of the retina, rods outnumber cones.
00:34In one area called the fovea, however, there are no rods but many cones.
00:38The fovea represents the area of our retina that provides our highest acuity vision, and thus is at the center
00:43of our gaze.
00:45When light hits photoreceptors, it interacts with a molecule called photopigment,
00:49which begins a chain of events that serves to propagate the visual signal.
00:52The signal is transmitted to cells called bipolar cells, which connect photoreceptors to ganglion cells.
00:58Bipolar cells pass the signal onto ganglion cells, which leave the eye in a large cluster at an area called
01:02the optic disc.
01:04The optic disc doesn't contain any photoreceptors, and so represents an area of the retina that can't process visual information,
01:10creating a natural blind spot.
01:12However, we normally don't notice our blind spot.
01:14The brain uses information from surrounding photoreceptors and the other eye to fill in the gaps in images that are
01:19processed by the retina.
01:21After leaving the retina, the ganglion cell fibers are called the optic nerve.
01:24The optic nerve carries visual information toward the brain to be processed.
01:28There are two other cell types in the retina that should be mentioned, horizontal and amocrine cells.
01:34Horizontal cells receive input from multiple photoreceptor cells.
01:37They integrate signaling from different populations of photoreceptor cells, make adjustments to the signals that will be sent to bipolar
01:43cells,
01:43and regulate activity in photoreceptor cells themselves.
01:47Amocrine cells receive signals from bipolar cells and are involved in the regulation and integration of activity in bipolar and
01:52ganglion cells.
01:54So, we'll see you next time.