The Human Eye

The Human Eye

The human eye is the organ which gives us the sense of sight, allowing us to observe and learn more about the surrounding world than we do with any of the other four senses.  We use our eyes in almost every activity we perform, whether reading, working, watching television, writing a letter, driving a car, and in countless other ways.  Most people probably would agree that sight is the sense they value more than all the rest.

The eye allows us to see and interpret the shapes, colors, and dimensions of objects in the world by processing the light they reflect or emit.  The eye is able to detect bright light or dim light, but it cannot sense objects when light is absent.

Process of vision:

Light waves from an object (such as a tree) enter the eye first through the cornea, which is the clear dome at the front of the eye.  It is like a window that allows light to enter the eye.  The light then progresses through the pupil, the circular opening in the center of the colored iris.

Fluctuations in the intensity of incoming light change the size of the eye’s pupil.  As the light entering the eye becomes brighter, the pupil will constrict (get smaller), due to the pupillary light response.  As the entering light becomes dimmer, the pupil will dilate (get larger).

Initially, the light waves are bent or converged first by the cornea, and then further by the crystalline lens (located immediately behind the iris and the pupil), to a nodal point (N) located immediately behind the back surface of the lens.  At that point, the image becomes reversed (turned backwards) and inverted (turned upside-down).

The light continues through the vitreous humor, the clear gel that makes up about 80% of the eye’s volume, and then, ideally, back to a clear focus on the retina, behind the vitreous.  The small central area of the retina is the macula, which provides the best vision of any location in the retina.  If the eye is considered to be a type of camera (albeit, an extremely complex one), the retina is equivalent to the film inside of the camera, registering the tiny photons of light interacting with it.

Within the layers of the retina, light impulses are changed into electrical signals.  Then they are sent through the optic nerve, along the visual pathway, to the occipital cortex at the posterior (back) of the brain.  Here, the electrical signals are interpreted or “seen” by the brain as a visual image.

Actually, then, we do not “see” with our eyes but, rather, with our brains.  Our eyes merely are the beginning of the visual process.  Watch an 11½-minute film, created in 1941, about the anatomy and physiology of the eye: How the Eye Functions.

Myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism:

If the incoming light from a far away object focuses before it gets to the back of the eye, that eye’s refractive error is called “myopia” (nearsightedness).  If incoming light from something far away has not focused by the time it reaches the back of the eye, that eye’s refractive error is “hyperopia” (farsightedness).
In the case of “astigmatism,” one or more surfaces of the cornea or lens (the eye structures which focus incoming light) are not spherical (shaped like the side of a basketball) but, instead, are cylindrical or toric (shaped a bit like the side of a football).  As a result, there is no distinct point of focus inside the eye but, rather, a smeared or spread-out focus.  Astigmatism is the most common refractive error.

Presbyopia (“after 40” vision):

After age 40, and most noticeably after age 45, the human eye is affected by presbyopia.  This natural condition results in greater difficulty maintaining a clear focus at a near distance with an eye which sees clearly far away.

Presbyopia is caused by a lessening of flexibility of the crystalline lens, as well as to a weakening of the ciliary muscles which control lens focusing.  Both are attributable to the aging process.

An eye can see clearly at a far distance naturally, or it can be made to see clearly artificially, such as with the aid of eyeglasses or contact lenses, or else following a photorefractive procedure such as LASIK (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis).  Nevertheless, presbyopia eventually will affect the near focusing of every human eye.

Eye growth:

The average newborn’s eyeball is about 18 millimeters in diameter, from front to back (axial length).  In an infant, the eye grows slightly to a length of approximately 19½ millimeters.

The eye continues to grow, gradually, to a length of about 24-25 millimeters, or about 1 inch, in adulthood.  A ping-pong ball is about 1½ inch in diameter, which makes the average adult eyeball about 2/3 the size of a ping-pong ball.

The eyeball is set in a protective cone-shaped cavity in the skull called the “orbit” or “socket.”  This bony orbit also enlarges as the eye grows.

Extraocular muscles:

The orbit is surrounded by layers of soft, fatty tissue.  These layers protect the eye and enable it to turn easily.

Traversing the fatty tissue are three pairs of extraocular muscles, which regulate the motion of each eye: the medial & lateral rectus muscles, the superior & inferior rectus muscles, and the superior & inferior oblique muscles.

Eye structures:

Several structures compose the human eye.  Among the most important anatomical components are the conjunctiva, cornea, crystalline lens, extraocular muscles, iris, macula, optic nerve, retina, and vitreous humor.

Nutrition and Eye Health:

Nutrition is an important aspect of your ability to achieve and maintain proper eye health. Current research is being done to help show that carotenoids play a pivotal role in the health of the human eye. Lutein and zeaxanthin are two major carotenoids, found in the macula of the eye, that are being specifically researched to identify their role in the pathogenesis eye disorders such as age-related macular degeneration and cataracts. Macular degeneration is especially prevalent in the U.S. as it affects roughly 1.75 million Americans each year. It has been discovered that having lower levels of lutein and zeaxanthin within the macula of the eye may be associated with an increase in the risk of age-related macular degeneration. Lutein and zeaxanthin are molecules that act as antioxidants that protect the retina and macula of the eye from oxidative damage from high-energy light waves.As the high-energy light waves enter the eye they excite electrons that can cause harm to the cells in the eye, but before they can cause oxidative damage that may lead to macular degeneration or cataracts lutein and zeaxanthin bind to the electron free radicle and are reduced rendering the electron safe. There are many ways to ensure a diet rich in lutein and zeaxanthin, the best of which is to eat dark green vegetables including kale, spinach, broccoli and turnip greens.

Effects of aging

There are many diseases, disorders, and age-related changes that may affect the eyes and surrounding structures.

As the eye ages, certain changes occur that can be attributed solely to the aging process. Most of these anatomic and physiologic processes follow a gradual decline. With aging, the quality of vision worsens due to reasons independent of diseases of the aging eye. While there are many changes of significance in the non-diseased eye, the most functionally important changes seem to be a reduction in pupil size and the loss of accommodation or focusing capability (presbyopia). The area of the pupil governs the amount of light that can reach the retina. The extent to which the pupil dilates decreases with age, leading to a substantial decrease in light received at the retina. In comparison to younger people, it is as though older persons are constantly wearing medium-density sunglasses. Therefore, for any detailed visually guided tasks on which performance varies with illumination, older persons require extra lighting. Certain ocular diseases can come from sexually transmitted diseases such as herpes and genital warts. If contact between the eye and area of infection occurs, the STD can be transmitted to the eye.

With aging, a prominent white ring develops in the periphery of the cornea called arcus senilis. Aging causes laxity, downward shift of eyelid tissues and atrophy of the orbital fat. These changes contribute to the etiology of several eyelid disorders such as ectropion, entropion, dermatochalasis, and ptosis. The vitreous gel undergoes liquefaction (posterior vitreous detachment or PVD) and its opacities — visible as floaters — gradually increase in number.

Various eye care professionals, including ophthalmologists, optometrists, and opticians, are involved in the treatment and management of ocular and vision disorders. A Snellen chart is one type of eye chart used to measure visual acuity. At the conclusion of a complete eye examination, the eye doctor might provide the patient with an eyeglass prescription for corrective lenses. Some disorders of the eyes for which corrective lenses are prescribed include myopia (near-sightedness) which affects about one-third[citation needed] of the human population, hyperopia (far-sightedness) which affects about one quarter of the population, astigmatism, and presbyopia (the loss of focusing range during aging).