Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 29, 2025
07:26
4-Dimensional Imaging of Zebrafish Optic Cup Morphogenesis
Published on: May 26, 2021
3.6K
Functional integration of eye tissues and refractive eye development: Mechanisms and pathways
Jody A Summers1, Frank Schaeffel2, Susana Marcos3
1Department of Cell Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
Experimental Eye Research
|July 6, 2021
Summary
Eye development involves embryonic formation and postnatal emmetropization, guided by genetic networks and visual stimuli. This process integrates signals across ocular tissues for visually guided eye growth, aiding myopia treatment.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Ophthalmology
- Genetics
Background:
- Refractive eye development is a complex, coordinated process involving embryonic formation and postnatal emmetropization.
- This development relies on intricate genetic networks and cross-tissue signaling, influenced by environmental and genetic factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent data on mechanisms and signaling pathways in refractive eye development.
- To discuss evidence for widespread signal integration across ocular tissues in visually guided eye growth.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent scientific literature.
- Synthesis of data from eye biometry, physiological optics, and systems genetics of refractive error.
Main Results:
- Refractive development involves a multilayered signaling cascade converting visual stimuli into molecular signals.
- Tissue-tissue interactions are crucial in both embryonic development and postnatal emmetropization.
- Evidence suggests broad signal integration across ocular components guides eye growth.
Conclusions:
- Understanding refractive eye development mechanisms offers a framework for new myopia treatment strategies.
- Visually guided eye growth is a complex process involving integrated signaling across multiple ocular tissues.
Keywords:
Chromatic aberrationsCrystalline lensEmmetropizationMonochromatic aberrationsMyopiaOptical aberrationsOptical defocusRefractive eye developmentSignaling pathwaysMore Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:20Anatomy of the Eyeball
8.0K
The eye is a spherical, hollow structure composed of three tissue layers. The outer layer — the fibrous tunic, comprises the sclera — a white structure — and the cornea, which is transparent. The sclera encompasses some of the ocular surface, most of which is not visible. However, the 'white of the eye' is distinctively visible in humans compared to other species. The cornea, a clear covering at the front of the eye, enables light penetration. The eye's middle...
8.0K
01:16Focusing of Light in the Eye
3.6K
Light rays enter the eye through the cornea, a transparent dome-shaped tissue that is the eye's outermost layer. The cornea bends or refracts, light rays traveling to the pupil. The shape of the cornea determines how much of the light is bent and whether the image will be focused correctly on the retina at the back of the eye. Once the light has passed through both refraction layers, it converges into a single focal point onto a small area. This is where photoreceptors start transforming...
3.6K
01:24Vision
57.4K
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.
57.4K
01:17Accessory Structures of the Eye
2.3K
Optical perception, or vision, is an extraordinary sense dependent on converting light signals received via the ocular organs. These organs, known as eyes, are securely positioned within the bony cavities of the skull, called orbits. The orbits serve a dual purpose: a protective shield for the ocular globes and a stable attachment point for the soft ocular tissues. The eye's external protective mechanisms include the eyelids, which are edged with lashes that act as a barrier against foreign...
2.3K
01:26Visual System
1.2K
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...
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...
1.2K
01:32The Retina
72.6K
The retina is a layer of nervous tissue at the back of the eye that transduces light into neural signals. This process, called phototransduction, is carried out by rod and cone photoreceptor cells in the back of the retina.
72.6K