Study Questions: The Retina
1. What are the functions of the "pigment epithelium"?
2. Name the anatomical layers of a retina in the order of image
processing. Briefly state the functions for each of the layers.
3. Name the types of photoreceptors in a human eye. Sketch their
distribution in a human retina (i.e., provide a graph with the "number
of receptors" on the y-axis and the "spatial position along the
horizontal line that passes through the fovea" on the x-axis). Relate
the above distribution to at least two perceptual phenomena.
4. Distinguish between rods and cones. Very briefly summarize the
chemical and electrical events after a photopigment absorbs a photon.
How does the electrical event affect the release of transmitter? What
determines the amount of change in polarization?
5. Label the x- and y-axes of a spectral sensitivity function of
a photoreceptor. Classify photoreceptors of a human eye based on
spectral sensitivity. What factors determine the probability of a
photon being absorbed? How does all of this relate to the "principle of
univariance".
6. Define "receptive field".
7. What is the blind spot? Why aren't we usually aware of
it?