The Stratum Opticum (also
known as the "Layer of Nerve-Fibres")
is the
second (2nd) of the layers forming
the retina of
the human eye that light reaches after entering the eye:
That is, after
light from outside the body enters the eye through it's main structures
of the cornea, aqueous
humour, pupil, lens,
etc..
The retina is composed of several layers which, together, form
the "screen" in the eye onto which an image of the area
viewed by the eye is formed, and information about that image is
segmented into packets of information that are passed to the
visual cortex of the brain via the optic
nerve.
The stratum opticum is
formed from the extension of the optic
nerve (which extends from
this second layer of the retina, through the other layers to the
back of the retina, from where it leaves the eye at the fovea and
continues, eventually, to the visual cortex brain).
The stratum opticum is thickest around
the optic
disc (also known as the optic
papilla), and gradually becomes thinner towards the "ora serrata"
- which is the edge of the retina closest to the front of the eye,
at which the retina ends in the form of a jagged margin before the
most posterior area to which the ciliary
body is attached.
For more information about related
subjects see:
*_ Structure
& Components of the Eye,
*_ Components
of the Central Nervous System,
*_ The
Pathway of a
Nerve Impulse,
*_ Structures
and Functions
of Neurones,
*_ Diseases
and
Disorders of the Nervous System,
*_ Text
books about Ophthalmology. |
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