Understanding the Human Eye

When it comes to making sense of the world around you, the human eye is of utmost importance. This organ allows individuals to access key information about their environment, more so than any other sensory organ. In addition, the eye acts as a gateway for physicians interested in evaluating your body’s vascular structure. This can be crucial for diagnosing serious ailments, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Elements of the Eye
The human eye rests within a cavity in the skull that is known as the orbit. In general, a fully developed adult eye will be about one inch in diameter, though only one sixth of the total surface area is visible when you examine a person’s face. External ocular components, such as the lids, brows and lashes, help prevent foreign debris and intense light from harming the exposed portion of the eye.
Other components of the eye play equally important roles. The white outer layer of the eye, known as the sclera, is responsible for affording rigidity, and the sclera is covered by a clear film called the conjunctiva. At the very front of the eye rests the cornea, which is also attached to the sclera. The cornea helps focus light that is entering the eye, thereby allowing the perception of images.
How Your Eye Functions
Processing light is the key function of the eye. Once light makes its way through the cornea, it then passes through the pupil. The pupil will grow larger or smaller to accommodate how much light is entering the eye (e.g. the pupil will decrease when faced with brighter light and expand in dimmer light). The pupil is situated in the center of the pigmented portion of the eye called the iris.
Behind the iris is the lens. The lens works in conjunction with the cornea by changing its shape to better focus light onto the retina, which is responsible for rendering images into electrical signals. These signals are carried to the brain via the optic nerve and processed as different shapes and colors, which enables humans to interpret the world in a meaningful way.