Related topics: brain · nerve cells · current biology · retina

Scientists solve mystery of the eye

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have a good overall understanding of human vision: when light enters our eyes, it is focused by the lens and strikes the retina in the back of the eye. The light causes some of the millions of ...

Unraveling the mystery of chiton visual systems

You'd probably walk past a chiton without even seeing it. These creatures often look like nothing more than another speck of seaweed on the crusty intertidal rocks. But it sees you. At least, if it's one of the species with ...

Temperature-dependent adaptations of whale shark vision

Researchers in Japan led by the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe and Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, have discovered that whale shark vision has uniquely temperature-dependent adaptations unseen in ...

Droughts in the sixth century paved the way for Islam

Extreme dry conditions contributed to the decline of the ancient South Arabian kingdom of Himyar. Researchers from the University of Basel have reported these findings in the journal Science. Combined with political unrest ...

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Eye

Eyes are organs that detect light, and send signals along the optic nerve to the visual and other areas of the brain[citation needed]. Complex optical systems with resolving power have come in ten fundamentally different forms, and 96% of animal species possess a complex optical system. Image-resolving eyes are present in cnidaria, molluscs, chordates, annelids and arthropods.

The simplest "eyes", such as those in unicellular organisms, do nothing but detect whether the surroundings are light or dark, which is sufficient for the entrainment of circadian rhythms. From more complex eyes, retinal photosensitive ganglion cells send signals along the retinohypothalamic tract to the suprachiasmatic nuclei to effect circadian adjustment.

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