photoreceptors tagged posts

A study suggests that we fixate slightly away from the retinal optimum to see better. When we fixate an object, its image does not appear at the place where photoreceptors are packed most densely. Instead, its position is shifted slightly nasally and upwards from the cellular peak. This is shown in a recent study conducted at the University of Bonn (Germany), published in the journal Current Biology. The researchers observed such offsets in both eyes of 20 healthy subjects, and speculate that the underlying fixation behavior improves overall vision.

We like to think of the eye as a camera, but the analogy falls short if we look at the distribution of light sensitive cells — phot...

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Researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center have developed eye drops that could prevent vision loss after retinal vein occlusion, a major cause of blindness for millions of adults worldwide.A study, in mice, suggests that the experimental therapy — which targets a common cause of neurodegeneration and vascular leakage in the eye — could have broader therapeutic effects than existing drugs.The study was published in Nature Communications.What is Retinal Vein Occlusion?Retinal vein occlusion occurs when a major vein that drains blood from the retina is blocked, usually due to a blood clot...

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Findings set stage for first clinical trial of stem cell-based therapeutic approach for AMD. Using a novel patient-specific stem cell-based therapy, researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) prevented blindness in animal models of geographic atrophy, the advanced “dry” form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is a leading cause of vision loss among people age 65 and older. The protocols established by the animal study, published Jan...

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Biologists at Johns Hopkins University grew human retinas from scratch to determine how cells that allow people to see in color are made...

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