The Eye: I.

Optics of
Vision

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Objectives
 List the types of lenses and recognize how they work
 Determine the power of lenses
 Describe accommodation for near vision and far vision
 Recognize nearsightedness and farsightedness and
determine its correction
 Describe visual acuity and its abnormalities
 Determine intraocular pressure and glaucoma

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Refractive Index

 Speed of light in air 300,000 km/sec.

 Light speed decreases when it passes through a
transparent substance.
 The refractive index is the ratio of the speed of
light in air to the speed of light in the substance.
 e.g., speed of light in substance = 200,000 km/sec,
R.I. = 300,000/200,000 = 1.5.

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Refraction of Light

 Bending of light rays by an angulated interface

with different refractive indices.
 The degree of refraction increases as the
difference in R.I. increases and the degree of
angulation increases.
 The features of the eye have different R.I. and
cause light rays to bend.
 These light rays are eventually focused on the
retina.
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Light Refraction

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Refractive Principles of a Lens
 Convex lens focuses light rays
(converging lens)

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Refractive Principles of a Lens
 Concave lens diverges light rays (diverging lens)

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Focusing Power of the Eye
 Most of the refractive power of the eye results
from the surface of the cornea.
 a diopter is a measure of the power of a lens
 1 diopter is the ability to focus parallel light rays at a
distance of 1 meter, it is a measure of power of lenses
 Diopter = 1/ focal length in meters i.e the power of a
lens with focal length 0.5 meter is 2 (more convex)
 the retina is considered to be 17 mm behind the
refractive center of the eye
 therefore, the eye has a total refractive power of 59
diopters (1000/17)
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The Refractive Power of a Lens

Figure 49-8; Guyton and Hall 13

Image formation on the retina-
requirements
Light refraction or bending the light by the refractive
media – Cornea, Aqueous humor, Lens and Vitreous
humor
Accommodation: An increase in the curvature of the lens
for near vision,
The near point of vision is the minimum distance from
the eye an object can be clearly focused with maximum
accommodation
Constriction (meiosis) and dilation (Mydriasis) of the pupil
Convergence and divergence of the eyes for binocular
vision
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Accommodation
 Refractive power of the lens is 20 diopters.
 Refractive power can be increased to 34 diopters
by changing shape of the lens - making it fatter
(more convex).
 This is called accommodation.
 Accommodation is necessary to focus the image
on the retina.
 Normal image on the retina is upside down.

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Mechanism of Accommodation
Contraction pulls
ligament forward
relaxing tension on
suspensory
ligament
making the lens
fatter

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Mechanism of Accommodation
 A relaxed lens is almost spherical in shape.
 Lens is held in place by suspensory ligament
which under normal resting conditions causes the
lens to be almost flat.
 Contraction of an eye muscle attached to the
ligament pulls the ligament forward and causes the
lens to become fatter (more convex) which
increases the refractive power of the lens.
 Under control of the parasympathetic nervous
system.
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Presbyopia

 Inability to accommodate
 Caused by progressive denaturation of the proteins
of the lens.
 Makes the lens less elastic.
 Begins about 40-50 years of age.

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Errors of Refraction

Normal vision

Far sightedness

Near sightedness

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 Correction of Vision

Myopia corrected with

concave lens

Hyperopia corrected
with convex lens

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Errors of Refraction

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Other Errors of Vision

 Astigmatism
unequal focusing of light rays due to an oblong
shape of the cornea
 Cataracts
cloudy or opaque area of the lens
caused by coagulation of lens proteins

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 Visual Acuity Test
The diameter of the cones in the fovea is  1.5 m

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Visual Acuity: depends on the density
of receptors (primarily Cones)
 20/20
ability to see letters of a given size at 20 feet
 20/50
what a normal person can see at 50 feet, this
person must be at 20 feet to see.
 20/200
what a normal person can see at 200 feet, this
person must be at 20 feet to see.

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Ophtalmoscope

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Fluid System of the Eye
 Intraocular fluid keeps the eyeball round and
distended.
 2 fluid chambers:
aqueous humor which is in front of the lens
freely flowing fluid
vitreous humor which is behind the lens
gelatinous mass with little flow of fluid

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Formation and Flow of Fluid in the Eye

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Formation of Aqueous Humor
Produced by the ciliary processes of the
ciliary body at a rate of 2-3 microliters/min.
Flows between the ligaments of the lens,
through the pupil into the anterior chamber,
goes between the cornea and the iris,
through a meshwork of trabeculae to enter
the canal of schlemm which empties into
aqueous veins and then into extraocular
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Intraocular Pressure
 Normally 15 mm Hg with a range of 12-20 mm Hg.
 The level of pressure is determined by the resistance
to outflow of aqueous humor in the canal of
schlemm.
increase in intraocular pressure caused by an
increase in resistance to outflow of aqueous
humor through a network of trabeculae in the
canal of schlemm (Glaucoma)
can cause blindness due to compression of the
axons of the optic nerve
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 The Eye: II. Receptor and
Neural Function of the Retina

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Objectives
 Describe visual receptors and characterize them
 List the layers of the retina and its cellular makeup
 Explain visual transduction mechanism
 Outline light and dark adaptation
 Describe vitamin A importance for vision
 Explain color blindness

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Retina
 light sensitive portion of the eye
 contains cones for day and color vision
 contains rods for night vision
 contains neural architecture
 light must pass through the neural elements to
strike the light sensitive rods and cones

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The Fovea
A small area at the center of the retina about 1 sq
millimeter
The center of this area, “the central fovea,”
contains only cones
these cones have a special structure
aid in detecting detail
In the central fovea the neuronal cells and blood
vessels are displaced to each side so that the light
can strike the cones directly.
This is the area of greatest visual acuity
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Rods, Cones and Ganglion Cells
Each retina has 100 million rods and 3
million cones and 1.6 million ganglion
cells.
60 rods and 2 cones for each ganglion cell
At the central fovea there are no rods and
the ratio of cones to ganglion cells is 1:1.
May explain the high degree of visual
acuity in the central retina
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 Rods
 high sensitivity;
specialized for night
vision
 more photopigment
 high amplification; single
photon detection
 saturate in daylight
 slow response, long
integration time
 more sensitive to scattered
light
Cones
 lower sensitivity;
specialized for day
vision
 less photopigment
 less amplification (less
divergence 1:1 is more)
 saturate with intense light
 fast response, short
integration time
 more sensitive to direct
axial rays
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Rods Cones
 low acuity; highly  high acuity; less
convergent retinal convergent retinal
pathways, not present in pathways, concentrated in
central fovea central fovea
 achromatic; one type of  trichromatic; three types
rod pigment, rhodopsin of cones, each with a
different pigment that is
sensitive to a different part
of the visible spectrum,
Red, Green and Blue

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Structure of the Rods and Cones

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Pigment Layer of Retina

 Pigment layer of the retina is very important

 Contains the black pigment melanin
 Prevents light reflection in the globe of the eye
 Without the pigment there would be diffuse
scattering of light rather than the normal contrast
between dark and light.
 This is what happens in albinos (genetic absence of
melanocyte activity)
poor visual acuity because of the scattering of light

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 Photochemistry of Vision
 Rods and cones contain chemicals that decompose on
exposure to light.
 This excites the nerve fibers leading from the eye.
 The membranes of the outer-segment of the rods
contain rhodopsin or visual purple.
 Rhodopsin is a combination of a protein called
scotopsin and a pigment, retinal (Vitamin A derivative)
 The retinal is in the cis configuration.
 Only the cis configuration can bind with scotopsin to
form rhodopsin.
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Light and Rhodopsin
 When light is absorbed by rhodopsin it immediately begins to
decompose.
 Decomposition is the result of photoactivation of electrons in
the retinal portion of rhodopsin which leads to a change from
the cis form of the retinal to the trans form of the molecule.
Trans retinal has the same chemical structure but is a
straight molecule rather than an angulated molecule.
This configuration does not fit with the binding site on the
scotopsin and the retinal begins to split away.
In the process of splitting away a number of intermediary
compounds are formed.

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Rhodopsin Cycle

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Mechanism for Light to Decrease
Sodium Conductance
 cGMP is responsible for keeping Na+ channel in
the outer segment of the rods open.
 Light activated rhodopsin (metarhodopsin II)
activates a G-protein, transducin.
 Transducin activates cGMP phosphodiesterase
which destroys cGMP.
 Rhodopsin kinase deactivates the activated
rhodopsin (which began the cascade) and cGMP is
regenerated re-opening the Na+ channels.

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The Rod Receptor Potential
 Normally about -40 mV
 Normally the outer segment of the rod is very
permeable to Na+ ions.
 In the dark an inward current (the dark current)
carried by the Na+ ions flows into the outer
segment of the rod.
 The current flows out of the cell, through the
efflux of K+, ions in the inner segment of the rod.

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The Dark Current

In the dark an inward current

(the dark current) carried by
the Na+ ions flows into the
outer segment of the rod.

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 The Dark Current

When rhodopsin decomposes in

response to light it causes a
hyperpolarization of the rod by
decreasing Na+ permeability of the
outer segment.

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Rod Receptor Potential (Cont’d)

 When rhodopsin decomposes it causes a

hyperpolarization of the rod by decreasing Na+
permeability of the outer segment.
 The Na+ pump in the inner segment keeps
pumping Na+ out of the cell causing the membrane
potential to become more negative
(hyperpolarization).
 The greater the amount of light the greater the
electronegativity.

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Duration and Sensitivity of the
Receptor Potential
 A single pulse of light causes activation of the rod
receptor potential for more than a second.
 In the cones these changes occur 4 times faster.
 Receptor potential is proportional to the logarithm
of the light intensity.
very important for discrimination of the light
intensity

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Role of Vitamin A

Vitamin A is the precursor of all-trans-

retinal, the pigment portion of rhodopsin.
Lack of vitamin A causes a decrease in
retinal.
This results in a decreased production of
rhodopsin and a lower sensitivity of the
retina to light or night blindness.

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Dark and Light Adaptation
 In light conditions most of the rhodopsin has been
reduced to retinal so the level of photosensitive
chemicals is low.
 In dark conditions retinal is converted back to
rhodopsin.
 Therefore, the sensitivity of the retinal automatically
adjusts to the light level.
 Opening and closing of the pupil also contributes to
adaptation because it can adjust the amount entering
the eye.
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Dark Adaptation and Rods and Cones

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Importance of Dark and Light Adaptation

 The detection of images on the retina is a function

of discriminating between dark and light spots.
 It is important that the sensitivity of the retina be
adjusted to detect the dark and light spots on the
image.
 Enter the bright light to a movie theater, even the
dark spots appear bright leaving little contrast.
 Enter darkness from light, the light spots are not
light enough to register.

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 Dark Adaptation
 Gradual increase in photoreceptor sensitivity when
entering a dark room.
 Maximal sensitivity reached in 20 min.
 Increased amounts of visual pigments produced in the
dark.
 Increased pigment in cones produces slight dark
adaptation in 1st 5 min.
 Increased rhodopsin in rods produces greater
increase in sensitivity.
 100,000-fold increase in light sensitivity in rods.

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 Color Vision
 Color vision is the result of activation of cones.
 3 types of cones:
blue cone
green cone
red cone
 The pigment portion of the photosensitive molecule is the
same as in the rods, the protein portion is different for the
pigment molecule in each of the cones.
 Makes each cone receptive to a particular wavelength
of light
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Each Cone is Receptive to a Particular
Wavelength of Light
Rods

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Color Blindness
 lack of a particular type of cone
 genetic disorder passed along on the X chromosome
 occurs almost exclusively in males (blue color blindness is
usually autosomal recessive gene but it is rare)
 about 8% of women are color blindness carriers
 most color blindness results from lack of the red or green
cones
lack of a red cone, protanope.
lack of a green cone, deuteranope.

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 Color Blindness Charts

Normal read 74, Red-Green read Normal read it 42, Red blind
it 21 read 2, Green blind read it 4
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Neural Organization of the Retina

Direction of
light
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Signal Transmission in the Retina

Transmission of signals in the retina is by

electrotonic conduction.
Allows graded response proportional to light
intensity.
The only cells that have action potentials are
ganglion cells and amacrine cells.
send signals all the way to the brain

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Lateral Inhibition to Enhance Visual
Contrast
 horizontal cells connect laterally between the rods
and cones and the bipolar cells
 output of horizontal cells is always inhibitory
 prevents the lateral spread of light excitation on
the retina
 have an excitatory center and an inhibitory
surround
 essential for transmitting contrast borders in the
visual image

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Lateral inhibition, the
function of horizontal
cells
Function of Amacrine Cells
 About 30 different types
 Some involved in the direct pathway from rods to bipolar
to amacrine to ganglion cells
 Some amacrine cells respond strongly to the onset of the
visual signal, some to the extinguishment of the signal
 Some respond to movement of the light signal across the
retina
 Amacrine cells are a type of interneuron that aid in the
beginning of visual signal analysis.

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Three Types of Ganglion Cells
 W cells (40%) receive most of their excitation from
rod cells.
sensitive to directional movement in the visual field
 X cells (55%) small receptive field, discrete retinal
locations, may be responsible for the transmission of
the visual image itself, always receives input from at
least one cone, may be responsible for color
transmission.
 Y cells (5%) large receptive field respond to
instantaneous changes in the visual field.
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Excitation of Ganglion Cells
spontaneously active with continuous
action potentials
visual signals are superimposed on this
background
many excited by changes in light intensity
respond to contrast borders, this is the way
the pattern of the scene is transmitted to the
brain

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 The Eye: III. Central
Neurophysiology of Vision

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Objectives
 List the stations for the visual pathway
 Determine the functions of the visual cortices
 Describe visual neural processing
 Explain the abnormalities of visual pathway lesions
 Outline the importance of the light reflexes direct
and consensual

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 Visual Pathways to the Brain
► optic nerve
►axons of ganglion cells of the retina
► optic chiasm
►all fibers from the nasal halves of the retina cross to the
opposite side and join fibers from the opposite temporal
retina to form the optic tracks
►Fibers project to the pretectal area and superior collicolli
► synapse in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the
thalamus
► from LGN to primary visual cortex by way of the optic
radiation
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Visual pathways to the brain

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 Fields of Vision
► nasal field located on the temporal side of the retina
► temporal field located on the nasal side of the retina
► interruption of the visual pathway at different points
leads to very specific visual field defects
► “blind spot” located about 15 degrees lateral to the
central point of vision
► no rods or cones in this area, called the optic disc,
exit point for axons of the ganglion cells

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 (Blindness)

(Bitemporal)

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 Retinal Projections to Subcortical
Regions
► suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus
► control of circadian rhythms??
► pretectal nuclei
► pupillary light reflex
► accommodation of the lens
► superior colliculus
► rapid directional movement of both eyes
► ventral lateral geniculate
► control of bodies behavioral functions??

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 Function of the Dorsal Lateral
Geniculate
► Two principle functions:
►relay of information to primary visual
cortex
►“gate control” of information to primary
visual cortex

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“Gate” Function of the LGN
► LGN receives input from corticofugal fibers
originating in the primary visual cortex.
► Input from reticular areas of the midbrain
► Both inputs are inhibitory and can turn off
transmission of the signal in select areas of the
LGN.
► Both inhibitory inputs presumably control the
visual input that is allowed to pass to the cortex.

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Primary Visual Cortex

►located in the occipital lobe in the calcarine

fissure region
►large representation in visual cortex for the
macula (region for highest visual acuity)
►layered structure like other cortical areas
►columnar organization as well
►receives the primary visual input

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Location of Visual Areas in the
Cortex

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Secondary Visual Areas
►visual association cortex
►responsible for analyzing the visual
information
►area for 3 dimensional position, gross form,
and motion
►area for color analysis

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Processing in the Visual Cortex
► separation of the signals from the two eyes
is lost in the primary visual cortex
► signals from one eye enter every other
column, alternating with signals from the
other eye
► allows the cortex to decipher whether the
two signals match

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Connections in the
Visual Cortex

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Analysis of the Visual Image
► The visual signal in the primary visual cortex is
concerned mainly with contrasts in the visual
scene.
► The greater the sharpness of the contrast, the
greater the degree of stimulation.
► Also detects the direction of orientation of each
line and border.
► for each orientation of a line, a specific neuronal cell is
stimulated.

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 The Autonomic Nerves to the
Eyes
► The eye is innervated by both parasympathetic and
sympathetic neurons.
► Parasympathetic fibers arise in the Edinger-Westphal
nucleus, pass in the 3rd cranial nerve to the ciliary
ganglion.
►Postganglionic fibers excite the ciliary muscle and
sphincter of the iris.
► Sympathetic fibers originate in the intermediolateral horn
cells of the superior cervical ganglion.
►Postganglionic fibers spread along the corotid artery and
eventually innervate the radial fibers of the iris.

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Autonomic Pathways to the Eye

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Pupillary reflex pathway (Direct and
Consensual –Indirect)
 Control of Accommodation
(Focusing the Eyes)
► results from contraction or relaxation of the ciliary
muscle
► regulated by negative feedback mechanism that
automatically adjust the focal power of the lens
for highest degree of visual acuity within about 1
sec
► exact mechanism is not known

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Control of Pupillary Diameter
►miosis: decreasing of pupillary aperture due
to stimulation of parasympathetic nerves
that excite the pupillary sphincter muscle
►mydriasis: dilation of pupillary aperture due
to stimulation of sympathetic nerves that
excite the radial fibers of the iris

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 Pupillary Light Reflex
► When the amount of light entering the eyes
increases, the pupils constrict.
► Functions to help the eye adapt extremely rapidly
to changing light conditions.
► Light excites fibers going to pretectal nuclei.
► From pretectal nuclei fibers pass to Edinger-
Westphal nucleus and back through
parasympathetic nerves to constrict iris sphincter.

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Pupillary Reactions in CNS
Diseases
 Argyll Robertson pupil
 Small pupil noted in CNS syphilis, alcoholism,
encephalitis, etc
 Respond to accommodation; Does not respond
to light
 Horner’s Syndrome
 Constricted pupil
 Drooping of upper eyelid (ptosis)
 Dilated blood vessels and no sweating on the
affected side of face

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Thank You

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