Core Ch 15 Detecting the environment (Part I)

15.1 Detecting light by the eye

15.1.1 Structures around the eye

-eyebrows: help prevent sweat from running into the eye
-eyelashes: help trap dirt and prevent it from entering the eye
-upper & lower eyelids: can open and closeblink
* When we blink, tears (contain sodium chloride & an enzyme that can kill bacteria) are
spread over the eye surfacekeep the eye moist & clean
* eyeball is attached to the orbit of the skull by 3 pairs of eye muscles (contraction of eye
muscles allows the eyeball to rotate in different directions)

15.1.2 Structures of the eye

a. Sclera
-protects the eyeball
-helps to maintain the shape of the eye
-provides a surface for attachment of eye muscles

b. Cornea
-transparent to allow light to pass through
-helps refract light into the eye (due to its curved shape)

c. Choroid
-rich in blood vessels to supply oxygen & nutrients to the eyes
-contains black pigment to absorb incoming light so as to prevent reflection of
light within the eyeprevent formation of multiple images

d. Retina
-contains light-sensitive cells and neurons
e. Ciliary body
-changes the thickness of lens by contraction and relaxation of ciliary muscles

f. Iris
-regulates the size of the pupil by the iris muscle and therefore controls the
amount of light entering the eye

g. Lens
-a transparent, elastic, biconvex structure attached to the ciliary body by the
suspensory ligament
-focuses light onto the retina

h. Aqueous humour
-supplies oxygen & nutrients to the lens and cornea (lens & cornea are made up
of living cells which require oxygen & nutrients for maintaining metabolism)
-helps refracting light and maintaining the shape of the eyeball

i. Vitreous humour
-helps refracting light and maintaining the shape of the eyeball

15.1.3 How do we see?

Process:
1. Light rays from an object are refracted & focused by (i)cornea (ii)aqueous humour
(iii)lens (iv)vitreous humour onto the retina
2. an image which is (i)real (ii)upside down (iii)laterally inverted (iv)smaller than the
object is formed
3. the image is detected by light-sensitive cells, which then send nerve impulses
4. nerve impulses are transmitted along the optic nerve to the visual centre in the
cerebrum
5. the visual centre interprets the nerve impulses so that we can see an upright image
of the object
Light-sensitive cells:
Rod cells Cone cells
Sensitive to dim light Sensitive to bright light only
Give only black & white vision Responsible for colour vision
Have low visual acuity (object seen is Have high visual acuity (object seen is
vague) sharp)
Present at the periphery of the retina Concentrate at the centre (yellow spot) of
the retina

Yellow spot Blind spot

Concentrated with cone cells only so that
it is the area of the retina where the shape
& colour of an object can be detected in
greatest detail (objects can be seen most
clearly)
Contains no light-sensitive cells as it is the
place where the nerve fibres leave the
eyeball to form the optic nerveno nerve
impulses can be generated and sent to the
brainany images formed on the blind
spot cannot be seen

** Visual acuity (the ability to see accurately & clearly) depends on:
-the density of light-sensitive cells
-the type of light-sensitive cells: cone cells can provide better acuity than rod cells

15.1.4 How does the eye control the amount of light entering it?
In bright light:
-circular muscles of the iris (入) contract and radial muscles (出) relax
pupil constrictsless light is allowed to enter the eye

In dim light:
-circular muscles of the iris relax and radial muscles contract
pupil dilatesmore light is allowed to enter the eye
15.1.5 Red Eye phenomenon
Q: Under dim conditions, the flash is used in taking photographs. Yet, ‘red-eye’ appears
quite often in flash photographs. Based on your knowledge about the eye structure,
account for this phenomenon.

A: As pupil will be larger under dim light,

more of the bright light from the flash will be reflected off the blood in the person’s
choroidred-eye phenomenon appears

15.1.6 How can we see objects at different distances clearly?

Focusing on near objects:
-circular ciliary muscles contracttension in the suspensory ligaments is reduced
(become slackened)lens becomes more convexrefracts light more

Focusing on distant objects:

-circular ciliary muscles relaxtension in the suspensory ligaments is increasedlens
is pulled and becomes less convexrefracts light less

15.1.7 Eye defects

Short sight:
-see near objects clearly but not distant objects
-short sight may be caused by (i) lens being too thick or (ii) eyeball being too long
-corrected by wearing concave lenses

Long sight:
-see distant objects clearly but not near objects
-long sight may be caused by (ii) lens being too thin or (ii) eyeball being too short
-corrected by wearing convex lenses

Colour blindness:
-an inherited eye defect that cannot be cured/corrected by wearing lenses
-caused by the deficiency/defect of one or more of the 3 types of cone cells
-the most common type is red-green colour blindness

Night Blindness:
-rod cells which are responsible to detect light of low intensity are not able to function
properlythe person’s vision becomes poor in dim conditions
-most common cause: vitamin A deficiency
Cloudy cornea:
-a condition in which the cornea becomes opaque (not transparent)
-can be cured by replacing the cloudy cornea with a fresh one obtained from a dead
people
-knowing that the cornea has no blood vessels (no WBC, no antigens)the risk of
rejection of the corneal transplant is extremely low
Cloudy lens (cataract):
-a condition in which the lens becomes opaque (not transparent)
-cloudy lens needs to be removed surgically & replaced by a lens implant (artificial lens)

Old sight:
-a condition in old people in which the ciliary muscles become too weak to contract/lens
loses its elasticitylens cannot be thickened to view near objects clearly
-effect is quite similar to long sight

Astigmatism:
-an eye defect due to uneven curvature of the cornea/lens
-image may become blurred when viewed at certain directions
-can be corrected with lenses with different curvatures at different regions

Retinal detachment:
-since the eyeball of a short-sighted person is lengthened, the retina is stretched as
wellretina may be torn more easily and retinal detachment occur easily in
short-sighted people
-light-sensitive cells in the detached retina will die since they cannot obtain oxygen &
nutrients from choroidlight falling on the retina cannot be detected/no nerve impulse
can be producedvision is impaired

Glaucoma:
-accumulation of aqueous humourincreased eye pressuredamages the optic nerve
-patients suffer from gradual vision lossblindness
-worsening of vision is prevented by lowering the eye pressure. This can be done by
reducing the production of aqueous humour/enhancing the drainage of it

Macular degeneration:
-a disease resulting in the loss of light-sensitive cells in the yellow spot of
patientsvision is seriously blurred in the centre
 Question bank 

1. A man came out of the cinema (dim light conditionbright light condition). Describe
how his eyes would adapt to the bright daylight. Explain why this would be
necessary.

-the circular muscles of the iris contract (radial muscles relax) (1)
-to reduce the size of the pupil (pupil constricts) (1)
-to prevent too much light from entering the eye (1)
-so as to prevent the damage of light-sensitive cells on the retina (1)

2. After looking at his watch, the man tried to locate the bus stop at the end of the
street. Describe & explain the changes that occurred in his eyes.//After reading her
book, a student tries to look at some words written on the blackboard. Describe &
explain the changes that occurred in her eyes.

-the ciliary muscles relax (1)

-increasing the tension on the suspensory ligaments (1)
-the lens is pulled and becomes less convex in shape (1)
to enable it to focus on a far away object

3. The boy had normal colour vision, but when it was getting dark, he found it difficult
to distinguish the colour of the cars on the road. Explain this briefly.

-cone cells, which are responsible for colour vision (1)

-cannot function properly in dim light (1)

4. Describe how the image on the retina generates vision in the brain.

-light-sensitive cells on the retina were stimulated (1)

-nerve impulses were set up (1)
-and transmitted along the optic nerve (1)
-to the visual centre of the cerebrum to interpret the nerve impulses into vision
5. After looking at the clock, Bill turned to his watch to check the time. Describe the
changes that occurred in his eyes when he tried to focus on his watch.

-ciliary muscles would contract (1)

-tension in suspensory ligaments decreses slacken (1)
-lens would become more convex in shape (1)

6. Explain the significance of the change in pupil size (pupil constricts) in response to
an increase in light intensity.

-to reduce the amount of light entering the eye (1)

-so as to prevent over-stimulation/damage of light-sensitive cells on the retina (1)

7. People have different eye colours, but their pupils always appear to be black. Explain
why the pupil always appears to be black.

-all the light entering the eye is absorbed by the retina and the choroid (1)
-as a result no light is reflected out of the eye through the pupil (1)

8. State one function of choroid. What feature of it contributes to this function?

-to supply oxygen/nutrients to the eyeball (1)

-as it is richly supplied with blood capillaries (1)
OR
-to prevent reflection of light within the eye (1)
-as it contains dark pigments to absorb the light (1)

9. In recent years, dark-coloured sunglasses are in fashion, but some of these

sunglasses cannot cut off UV light. Suggest why wearing such sunglasses under
bright sunlight would be more damaging to the eye than not wearing any sunglasses.

-dark-coloured sunglasses reduce the light intensity entering the eye (1)
-so the pupil will not constrict/constrict to a smaller extent in bright sunlight (1)
-as a result, more UV light can enter the eye and cause damage (1)
10. Ciliary muscles become weak in an old man. Explain how this will affect his eyesight
when he looks at a nearby object.

-When the man is looking at a near object, the weakened ciliary muscle contract with
less force (1)
-and the tension of the suspensory ligaments remains high (1)
-hence, the lens is not thick enough (1)
-and fails to converge light to form a clear image on the retina (1)

11. With reference to the function of choroid, explain why the falling off of retina from
choroid may cause blindness.

-retina contains light-sensitive cells (1)

-cannot obtain nutrients & oxygen from choroid (1)
-as a result, light-sensitive cells die (1)
-light falling on retina cannot be detected/no nerve impulse can be produced (1)
so the vision is impaired

12. Explain why the vision of the patient with macular degeneration is seriously blurred
in the centre.

-vision in the centre mainly relies on the detection of light falling on the yellow spot
(1)
-as the yellow spot contains cone cells only, light falling on this spot can hardly be
detected by the patient with this disease (1)
the vision becomes blurred in the centre

13. A coloured object is perceived as being more colourful in bright light than in dim
light. Explain this with respect to the functioning of rod cells and cone cells.

-rod cells cannot distinguish colours (1)

-while cone cells are responsible for colour vision (1)
-cone cells are only stimulated by strong light and (1)
-a larger number of cone cells is stimulated in bright light than in dim light/a smaller
number of cone cells is stimulated in dim light than in bright light (1)
so the coloured object is perceived as being more colourful in bright light
Sensitivity (★★★★)

1. Rods vs cones (functions, distribution)

{DSE 14 P1-10, DSE PP-P1-3, AL 04 PIIB-4(a), CE 10-5}
2. Yellow spot vs blind spot
3. Formation of image on retina and signal transduction along the optic nerve
4. Eye Defects (Glaucoma, cataract, etc)
5. Pupil reflex {CE 03-3(a)}
6. Accommodation {CE 01-2(a)}
(a) Focusing near object and distant object (the role of ciliary muscle,
suspensory ligaments, lens)
(b) Short-sightness
7. Sensation in ears {DSE 15 P1-1, AL 01-PIIA-1(a), CE 02-4(a)}