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Visual System

Visual System

Light enters the eye through the cornea, a transparent, dome-shaped surface covering the surface of the eyeball that helps to direct and focus incoming light. This light is then channeled toward the pupil, an adjustable opening whose size is controlled by the iris. The iris, a pigmented muscle, regulates the amount of light entering the eye by contracting or dilating the pupil, thereby ensuring optimal light levels for clear vision.
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...

Vision

Vision

Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 17, 2026

Using Looming Visual Stimuli to Evaluate Mouse Vision

Using Looming Visual Stimuli to Evaluate Mouse Vision

Published on: June 13, 2019

Laminar circuit organization and response modulation in mouse visual cortex.

Nicholas D Olivas¹, Victor Quintanar-Zilinskas, Zoran Nenadic

¹Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, School of Medicine, University of California Irvine, CA, USA.

Frontiers in Neural Circuits

|October 13, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers mapped mouse visual cortex circuits using laser scanning photostimulation and voltage-sensitive dye imaging. They found GABAergic inhibition is crucial for restricting excitation spread and maintaining projections, while NMDA receptors modulate excitability.

Keywords:

GABA NMDA receptor PCA optical stimulation voltage-sensitive dye imaging

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 17, 2026

Using Looming Visual Stimuli to Evaluate Mouse Vision

Using Looming Visual Stimuli to Evaluate Mouse Vision

Published on: June 13, 2019

Laser-scanning Photostimulation of Optogenetically Targeted Forebrain Circuits

Laser-scanning Photostimulation of Optogenetically Targeted Forebrain Circuits

Published on: December 27, 2013

Monocular Visual Deprivation and Ocular Dominance Plasticity Measurement in the Mouse Primary Visual Cortex

Monocular Visual Deprivation and Ocular Dominance Plasticity Measurement in the Mouse Primary Visual Cortex

Published on: February 8, 2020

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Visual System Research
Cortical Circuitry

Background:

The mouse is a key model for visual system studies.
Limited understanding of local functional circuit organization in the mouse visual cortex.

Purpose of the Study:

To map spatial organization and temporal dynamics of laminar circuit responses in the mouse primary visual cortex (V1).
To investigate the role of inhibition and specific receptors in V1 circuit function.

Main Methods:

Developed a novel mapping technique combining laser scanning photostimulation (LSPS) with fast voltage-sensitive dye (VSD) imaging.
Used caged glutamate for spatially restricted neuronal activation in living slice preparations of mouse V1.
Administered GABAa, AMPA, and NMDA receptor antagonists to assess their effects on circuit activity.

Main Results:

GABAergic inhibition critically restricts layer-specific excitatory activity spread and maintains topographical projections.
Blocking AMPA receptors abolished interlaminar functional projections.
NMDA receptor activity is vital for controlling visual cortical circuit excitability and modulating activity propagation, with antagonists showing time-dependent and laminar-specific effects.

Conclusions:

The study provides novel insights into mouse V1 circuit organization and response modulation.
GABAergic inhibition and NMDA receptor function are key regulators of visual cortical processing.
LSPS combined with VSD imaging is an effective technique for analyzing functional circuits in vivo.