E.2.2 Label a diagram of the human eye.

E.2.3 Annotate a diagram of the retina to show the cell types and the direction in which light
moves.

E.2.4 Compare rod and cone cells.

ROD CELLS

CONE CELLS

BOTH: Photoreceptors found in the retina

Found outside the fovea

Found in fovea

Dim light (night vision)

Bright light (day vision)

Low visual acuity/resolution (many rod cells add

up)
Several rods are connected to a single bipolar
neurone

High visual acuity/ resolution (one cone cell per

signal)

Can detect all wavelengths of visible light

Can detect only red, green and blue light

Achromatic vision (black and white)

Coloured vision

One type of rod cell: rhodopsin pigment

Three types of cone cell: each with a different

pigment

Relatively high abundance

Relatively low abundance

One cone cell per bipolar neurone

E.2.6 Explain the processing of visual stimuli, including edge enhancement and contralateral
processing.

Photoreceptors convert light energy into nerve impulses. These impulses pass through bipolar
neurones, which relay the signal into the optic nerve via ganglion cells.
o Edge enhancement: occurs within the retina: signals from rods and cones follow vertical
and lateral paths. Photoreceptors stimulate opposing bipolar cells but inhibit adjacent
bipolar cells (lateral inhibition). Greater stimulation of the receptor means greater
inhibition of its neighbours. If all receptors receive equal stimulus, and thus equal
inhibition, then they will produce a uniform signal. However, with edge enhancement
some receptors will receive greater stimulus than others, thus making the inhibition
greater. This makes light spots lighter and dark spots darker, with the contrast greatest at
the edges. This can be proven with the Hermann Grid Illusion:

o
on
it
to
right
from
vice
the
is
of
is
from
field

Collateral Processing:
when stimuli is processed
the opposite side of where
was detected. This is due
optic chiasma, where the
brain hemisphere
processes information
the left visual field and
versa. Information from
left half of the visual field
detected by the right half
the retina in both eyes and
processed by the right
hemisphere. Information
the right half of the visual
is detected by the left half

of the retina in both eyes and is processed by the left hemisphere. At the optic chiasma,
information from both eyes may swap so that the left or right visual field is processed
together. Impulses continue to the thalamus where the optical information is processed
before an image forms in the visual cortex.
Image from bioninja.com