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Eyes are organs that detect light and convert it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons. The simplest photoreceptor cells in conscious vision connect light to movement. In higher organisms the eye is a complex optical system which collects light from the surrounding environment, regulates its intensity through a diaphragm, focuses it through an adjustable assembly of lenses to form an image, converts this image into a set of electrical signals, and transmits these signals to the brain through complex neural pathways that connect the eye via the optic nerve to the visual cortex and other areas of the brain. Eyes with resolving power have come in ten fundamentally different forms, and 96% of animal species possess a complex optical system.[1] Image-resolving eyes are present in molluscs, chordates and arthropods.[2] The simplest "eyes", such as those in microorganisms, do nothing but detect whether the surroundings are light or dark, which is sufficient for the entrainment of circadian rhythms.[citation needed] From more complex eyes, retinal photosensitive ganglion cells send signals along the retinohypothalamic tract to the suprachiasmatic nuclei to effect circadian adjustment. Complex eyes can distinguish shapes and colours. The visual fields of many organisms, especially predators, involve large areas of binocular vision to improve depth perception. In other organisms, eyes are located so as to maximise the field of view, such as in rabbits and horses, which have monocular vision. The first proto-eyes evolved among animals 600 million years ago about the time of the Cambrian explosion.[3] The last common ancestor of animals possessed the biochemical toolkit necessary for vision, and more advanced eyes have evolved in 96% of animal species in six of the thirty-plus[4] main phyla.[1] In most vertebrates and some molluscs, the eye works by allowing light to enter and project onto a light-sensitive panel of cells, known as the retina, at the rear of the eye. The cone cells (for colour) and the rod cells (for low-light contrasts) in the retina detect and convert light into neural signals for vision. The visual signals are then transmitted to the brain via the optic nerve. Such eyes are typically roughly spherical, filled with a transparent gellike substance called the vitreous humour, with a focusing lens and often an iris; the relaxing or tightening of the muscles around the iris change the size of the pupil, thereby regulating the amount of light that enters the eye,[5] and reducing aberrations when there is enough light.[6] The eyes of most cephalopods, fish, amphibians and snakes have fixed lens shapes, and focusing vision is achieved by telescoping the lenssimilar to how a camera focuses.[7] Compound eyes are found among the arthropods and are composed of many simple facets which, depending on the details of anatomy, may give either a single pixelated image or multiple images, per eye. Each sensor has its own lens and photosensitive cell(s). Some eyes have up to 28,000 such sensors, which are arranged hexagonally, and which can give a full 360 field of vision. Compound eyes are very sensitive to motion. Some arthropods, including many Strepsiptera, have compound eyes of only a few facets, each with a retina capable of creating an image, creating vision. With each eye viewing a different thing, a fused image from all the eyes is produced in the brain, providing very different, high-resolution images. Possessing detailed hyperspectral colour vision, the Mantis shrimp has been reported to have the world's most complex colour vision system.[8] Trilobites, which are now extinct, had unique

compound eyes. They used clear calcite crystals to form the lenses of their eyes. In this, they differ from most other arthropods, which have soft eyes. The number of lenses in such an eye varied, however: some trilobites had only one, and some had thousands of lenses in one eye. In contrast to compound eyes, simple eyes are those that have a single lens. For example, jumping spiders have a large pair of simple eyes with a narrow field of view, supported by an array of other, smaller eyes for peripheral vision. Some insect larvae, like caterpillars, have a different type of simple eye (stemmata) which gives a rough image. Some of the simplest eyes, called ocelli, can be found in animals like some of the snails, which cannot actually "see" in the normal sense. They do have photosensitive cells, but no lens and no other means of projecting an image onto these cells. They can distinguish between light and dark, but no more. This enables snails to keep out of direct sunlight. In organisms dwelling near deep-sea vents, compound eyes have been secondarily simplified and adapted to spot the infra-red light produced by the hot ventsin this way the bearers can spot hot springs and avoid being boiled alive.[9] Evolution Main article: Evolution of the eye

Evolution of the mollusc eye

Photoreception is phylogenetically very old, with various theories of phylogenesis.[10] The common origin (monophyly) of all animal eyes is now widely accepted as fact. This is based upon the shared genetic features of all eyes; that is, all modern eyes, varied as they are, have their origins in a proto-eye believed to have evolved some 540 million years ago,[11][12][13] and the PAX6 gene is considered a key factor in this. The majority of the advancements in early eyes are believed to have taken only a few million years to develop, since the first predator to gain true imaging would have touched off an "arms race" [14] among all species that did not flee the photopic environment. Prey animals and competing predators alike would be at a distinct disadvantage without such capabilities and would be less likely to survive and reproduce. Hence multiple eye types and subtypes developed in parallel (except those of groups, such as the vertebrates, that were only forced into the photopic environment at a late stage). Eyes in various animals show adaptation to their requirements. For example, birds of prey have much greater visual acuity than humans, and some can see ultraviolet light. The different forms of eye in, for example, vertebrates and molluscs are examples of parallel evolution, despite their distant common ancestry. Phenotypic convergence of the geometry of cephalopod and most vertebrate eyes creates the impression that the vertebrate eye evolved from an imaging cephalopod eye, but this is not the case, as the reversed roles of their respective ciliary and rhabdomeric opsin classes[15] and different lens crystallins show.[16] The very earliest "eyes", called eyespots, were simple patches of photoreceptor protein in unicellular animals. In multicellular beings, multicellular eyespots evolved, physically similar to the receptor patches for taste and smell. These eyespots could only sense ambient brightness: they could distinguish light and dark, but not the direction of the light source.[1] Through gradual change, the eyespots of species living in well-lit environments depressed into a shallow "cup" shape, the ability to slightly discriminate directional brightness was achieved by using the angle at which the light hit certain cells to identify the source. The pit deepened over time, the opening diminished in size, and the number of photoreceptor cells increased, forming an effective pinhole camera that was capable of dimly distinguishing shapes.[17] However, the ancestors of modern hagfish, thought to be the protovertebrate[15] were evidently pushed to very deep, dark waters, where they were less vulnerable to sighted predators, and where it is advantageous to have a convex eye-spot, which gathers more light than a flat or concave one. This would have led to a somewhat different evolutionary trajectory for the vertebrate eye than for other animal eyes. The thin overgrowth of transparent cells over the eye's aperture, originally formed to prevent damage to the eyespot, allowed the segregated contents of the eye chamber to specialise into a transparent humour that optimised colour filtering, blocked harmful radiation, improved the eye's refractive index, and allowed functionality outside of water. The transparent protective cells eventually split into two layers, with circulatory fluid in between that allowed wider viewing angles and greater imaging resolution, and the thickness of the transparent layer gradually increased, in most species with the transparent crystallin protein.[18] The gap between tissue layers naturally formed a bioconvex shape, an optimally ideal structure for a normal refractive index. Independently, a transparent layer and a nontransparent layer split

forward from the lens: the cornea and iris. Separation of the forward layer again formed a humour, the aqueous humour. This increased refractive power and again eased circulatory problems. Formation of a nontransparent ring allowed more blood vessels, more circulation, and larger eye sizes.[18]

The Structure of the Human Eye

Before discussing the structure of the eye, give yourself a minute to look at your eyes in a mirror. Try to notice its structure and position in your face. Have you ever wondered about the structure of your eyes? or How this miraculous organ works? Now it is time to learn more about your eyes. Lets take a tour in the eye, starting from the outside and work our way toward the back of the eye. The Eyelids are mostly composed of skin, muscles for movement and glands for secretion of oil into the tears to keep the tears from evaporating too quickly. The eyelids protect the eye from strong light, dust and foreign objects. Closure of the lids during sleep protects the surface of the eye from drying. Blinking the eyelids lubricate the eye. The Palpebral Fissure is the space between the upper and lower eyelids. The Eyebrows help to protect the eyes from dust and direct sun light. In addition, they prevent sweat from dripping in the eyes. The Eyelashes are short hairs arising from the eyelids margin and help protect the eye from sun light and dust. The eyelashes are more numerous in the upper lid than the lower. The Conjunctiva is a transparent thin membrane that covers the front of the eyeball and lines the inside of the eyelids. The conjunctiva is loose enough to allow the eye to move freely. It contains cells that liberate mucus into the tears, helping the tears to spreads evenly over the front surface of the eye. The Tears are produced by the lacrimal glands. The tears flow down the front of the eye and drain through small pores on the eyelids margin. Then tears flow down the lacrimal tubing and finally drain into the nose. The tears wash the eyes and carry foreign objects to the side of the eye. The Cornea is the clear crystal part of the front surface of the eye. In addition to protecting the delicate structures inside the eye, the cornea helps focus rays of light on the retina to create an image. Its working is similar to that of the lens of a camera, focusing rays of light to create an image on the film. As the cornea is the target part of the eye in LASIK eye surgery, we need to discuss a little more details about its structure and function: Further details about the cornea. The Sclera, the white of the eye, is the outer fibrous protective coat of the eye. It helps maintain the shape of the eye and receives attachments from the muscles, which move the eye.

The Iris is colored part of the eye which lies behind the cornea and inside the eye. It is composed of muscles and contains pigments. The iris has a hole in its center called the pupil. The iris can change the size of the pupil, by its muscles, to control the amount of light entering the eye. The Lens is the flexible, transparent structure found behind the iris. It is held in place by ligaments called zonules. In order to see clearly objects at different distances, the lens has the ability to change its shape to focus images on the retina. This process is known as accommodation. The Eyeball is nearly a sphere in shape with a diameter of around 24 mm (about one inch).The eye wall is made of three coats: 1. Outer coat is fibrous, and is formed of the cornea and the sclera. Being tough and strong, this layer serves to maintain the shape of the eye and to protect the underlying delicate coats. 2. Middle coat (uvea) contains blood vessels and pigments and divided into the iris, ciliary body, and the choroid, all are continuous with each and are together named the uvea. The function of this layer is to provide nutrition to the other coats. 3. Inner coat (retina) is the sensory part of the eye and is formed of nervous tissue. The role of the retina is to sense light and transform it into electrochemical signals that the brain interprets as vision. The cavity of the eyeball is divided into three chambers: 1. The anterior (front) chamber is the space between the cornea and the iris (the colored tissue at the front of the eye). 2. The posterior (back) chamber is the space between the iris and the lens 3. The vitreous chamber is the space between the lens and the retina. Both the anterior and posterior chambers are filled with a clear fluid called the aqueous humor, which maintain the pressure inside the eye. The vitreous chamber is filled by a viscous, clear jelly (vitreous humor), which support and protect the lens and the retina. The Optic Nerve is a bundle of nerve fibers, which transmits the visual information from the retina to the brain. The Orbit is a pear shaped cavity in the scull; representing the bony housing of the eye. It provides the protection for the eye, mainly from trauma. The Eye Muscles: there are six muscles around each eyeball, working together to move the eye in all directions. These muscles are called the extra-ocular muscles and are attached to the bones of the orbit and to the surface of the sclera. How The Eye Works? (Mechanism of Vision)

Vision is a dual task performed by the eye and the brain. Our Eyes are the organs that detect light and form an image of objects on the retina. The image is transmitted along the optic nerve in the form of electrochemical signals to the visual and other specialized areas of the brain, where interpretation of what is seen takes place.

The human body is a marvel of nature and each and every large or tiny organ has a specific and important function. There are five senses of the human body, that help understand and interpret its surroundings. These five senses are namely: The sense of touch with the help of the largest organ of the human body, the skin The sense of smell with the help of the breathing apparatus, the nose The sense of taste with the muscle without a bone, the tongue The ability to see through the windows of the soul, the eyes The sense of hearing with the help of cartilaginous pair of ears. Fact File: The ear captures sound and helps you recall that sound throughout your life. The ear helps the body respond emotionally, according to the sound heard, like emotions of love on hearing the sound of a loved one, emotions of fear on hearing a threat or a gunshot! From the sweet chirping of the birds to the irritating sounds of crickets, the loud bang of crackers and the beautiful symphony of an orchestra, all these different sounds and many other sounds are possible to comprehend due to our ears. Majority of the human population is born with fully developed external and internal ears. Even a fetus inside its mother's womb is able to hear all the sounds that are loud. Are you wondering how the human ear functions? What are the parts and functions of the ear? Well, let us begin understanding the hearing mechanism by knowing more about the different parts and functions of the ear. Parts and Functions of the ear The human ear is divided into five parts. These five parts of human ear, have specific functions that help in the process of hearing. Parts of Human Ear The parts of the human ear include: Outer Ear Middle Ear Inner Ear Acoustic Nerve Central Auditory Processing Centers Outer ear is divided into the pinna and the external auditory meatus. The pinna, also known as the auricle is the external ear part that is located and seen on each side of our head. It is made up of cartilage and soft tissue. This helps in maintaining a particular ear shape and remains pliable. The pinna is like a funnel that collects the sound vibrations from around us and funnels them towards the external

9 auditory meatus. Outer Ear The external auditory meatus is also called the ear canal. The ear canal helps understand and determine the source and direction of the sound. It is only inch in diameter and extends from the pinna to the tympanic membrane. The tympanic membrane is commonly called the eardrum. Skin and hair cover the outer ear canal foundation and the cerumen gland or the wax gland is present in this area. The ear canal develops into a bony structure tightly covered by skin, near the eardrum. Fact File: The eardrum is an extremely sensitive organ. It can detect the sounds with an intensity range of approximately 100,000,000 to 1. When the softest sound hits the eardrum, it moves about onemillionth of an inch and this vibration is transferred to the inner ear for further processing within the brain. The middle ear is the structure that begins at the end of the tympanic membrane. There are three tiny bones known as the ossicles that make up the middle ear. These bones connect the eardrum to the inner ear. Sound waves funneled in through the pinna, hit the eardrum. This causes the eardrum to move back and forth, in other words, vibrate, causing the ossicles to move. This causes the sound waves to convert into mechanical vibration. Middle Inner Ear The three tiny bones forming the ossicles are malleus, incus and stapes. The malleus also known as the hammer is connected to the eardrum on one side and the incus, known as the anvil on the other side. The anvil is connected to the third bone stapes, also called the stirrup. The sound waves converted into mechanical energy are transferred through this ossicular chain. There is an in and out movement at the stirrup base known as the stapes footplate, that matches the incoming sound waves. The beginning of the inner ear is marked by the oval window that fits in the stapes footplate. Structure of the Three Tiny Bones The middle ear is present in the mastoid section of the temporal bone. The temporal bone is the skull bone that is present on each side of the head that is filled with air. The Eustachian tube runs from the middle ear front wall to the back of the nose and nasopharynx, that is, throat. The function of the ear tube, that is the Eustachian tube is, to provide ventilation and access to the external air and balance the air pressure on the both sides of the eardrum. Fact File: When there is a change in air pressure in our ears, we can chew, swallow and even yawn. The inner ear houses the sensory organs that help in hearing and maintaining balance. The part of human ear involved in the function of hearing is the cochlea. Another major function of the human ear

10 is to maintain balance of the body. The different parts of the human ear that help in balancing are the semicircular canals consisting of the utricle and the saccule present in the inner ear. The bony structure that is shaped like a snail and filled with endolymph and perilymph fluid is called the cochlea. The sensory receptor called the Organ of Corti is present inside the cochlea. It has hair cells and nerve receptors, required for hearing. The middle ear movement pushes the mechanical energy in the oval window inside the cochlea. The tiny hair cells are stimulated due to the force that moves the fluids inside the cochlea. Pitches or the specific sound frequencies stimulate specific individual hair cells in the inner ear. Thus, certain frequencies are responded by certain hair cells. The hair cells translate signals into nerve impulses. The cochlear portion of the VIII cranial nerve, the acoustic nerve, transmit the nerve impulses to the brain. The acoustic nerve is the part of human ear that transmits impulses from the cochlea to the mid brain region, the cochlear nucleus, and further on to other pathways in the brain, that end in the auditory cortex of the brain. The nerve fibers of each ear are divided into two pathways from the cochlear nucleus. Of these two pathways, one ascends towards the auditory cortex in one hemisphere of the brain and the other crosses over and ascends to the other hemisphere of the brain. Thus, the function of the human ear nerve fibers pathway is to transmit data or information received from both ears to both the hemispheres of the brain. The central auditory system function of human ear is to process auditory information carried to the brain. The central auditory system plays a role in the following functions of human ear: The localization and lateralization of the sound Differentiating between the different sounds Temporal resolution, masking, integration and ordering Reducing the auditory performance when there are competing acoustic signals Reducing the auditory performance when there is a presence of degraded acoustic signal Functions of the Ear We have understood the different parts of a human ear and got an overview of their functions. Now, let us have a look at the functions of the ear, in a little detail. The pinna and the ear canal deliver the sound waves to the middle ear. Foreign bodies like insects, dust, etc. are prevented from gaining entry into the ear due to the presence of wax and hair in this region. This helps in preventing many ear infections. The eardrum vibrates according to the frequency and the amplitude of sounds that strike it. The middle ear function of human ear is to transmit and amplify the sounds vibrated from the eardrum towards the oval window. It also acts as a dampener to loud sounds that may damage the cochlea. The round window is a flexible membrane present at the opposite end of the fluid filled channels from the oval window. The round window function of human ear is to keep the cochlear fluids contained

11 within the scala vestibuli and scala tympani. It also functions as a multiplier of the sound waves generated from the oval window membrane. The malleus transmits sound vibrations from the eardrums to the incus. The incus transmits the sound vibrations to the stapes. The stapes transmit the vibrations to the membrane of the inner ear present inside the fenestra ovalis. The semicircular canals function is to maintain the balance by responding to gravity and the acceleration changes of the head. The mastoid bone acts as an amplifier of certain sounds that are in the low-frequency range. The cochlea, the actual organ that helps in hearing functions as a sound wave interpreter and converter. Parts and Functions of the Ear Involved in Balancing The sense of equilibrium is controlled by the vestibular system. This system is present in the inner ear. The temporal bone space is shared between the vestibular and the cochlea. The fluids present in the cochlea are present in the vestibular. In order to maintain balance and equilibrium when standing, sitting, running, walking etc. in relation to gravity without falling over, is taken care by the vestibular system. Many other systems like vision, muscle response, help the vestibular system in performing its balancing function of human ear effectively. The utricle and the saccule of the semicircular canals lie in anatomically different planes. These planes lie at a right angle to each other. These planes each have a specific function that deals with movement, that is, up and down, side to side and tilting from one side to the other side. These canals contain sensory hair cells and are activated by the movement of the endolymph fluid. When the head tilts to one side, the sensory hair cells send a nerve impulse to the brain with the help of acoustic nerve. The fluid in the semicircular canal acts on calcium carbonate crystals (CaCO3). These crystals shift on their sensory hair beds at the base of the utriculus and the sacculus. These impulses are stimulated by the crystals present and are processed in the brain stem and the cerebellum area, in relation to the position of head with gravity. Fact File: When the calcium carbonate crystals break off from their hair beds, they float within the vestibular labyrinth. These floating crystals cause serious balance and vertigo problems. How the Human Ear Functions You can see in the diagram that the external ear captures the traveling sound waves. The sound waves enter through the pinna into the ear canal. Through the ear canal the sound waves reach the eardrum. These sound waves cause vibrations of the eardrum that are passed on to the middle ear. The three tiny bones in the middle ear pass the vibrations over to the inner ear. The stapes deliver the sound waves to the cochlea through the round window of the outer part of the inner ear, called the bony labyrinth. These vibrations cause the perilymph fluid present in the cochlea to vibrate. These vibrations are picked up by the sensory hair cells, that translate it into nerve impulses and deliver it to the auditory nerve present at the base of cochlea. The VIII cranial nerve carries the messages to the brain, where it is read and translated into meaningful sounds.

12 Diagram of The Ear Sketched By Abhishake Sharma Sound Range Heard by a Human Ear A human ear can detect sounds that are in the range of frequency between 16 Hertz to 16384 Hertz. The following table will give you an idea of the various sound decibels that help human beings perceive different sounds. Decibels Perception of Sound 0 dB The lowest sound that can be heard by a healthy ear of an 18-year-old. 20 dB Very soft whisper 45 dB Softly spoken voice 60 dB An average voice spoken 70 dB A loud shout 80 dB A loud motorbike that is driven on a narrow street 90 dB Lawn mower 100-120 dB Heavy metal rock concert 120-140 dB A jet engine within a range of 250 yards Fact File: A dog can hear sounds ranging from 67 Hz to 45000 Hz. This helps it hear a dog whistle which even humans can't hear. A bat can hear up to 110000 Hz that helps it in echolocation, enabling it to fly through pitch black nights! People living on country sides have been away from loud noises of machinery and other loud sounds, have been known to be able to hear the random motion of air molecules, that bounce against their eardrums! Ear is a very sensitive organ and needs to be protected from damage. Never ever use pins or pencil points etc. to clean your ears. Use cotton ear buds to clean or you may end up damaging your eardrums. Stay away from loud sounds and if you work around heavy machinery that creates a lot of sound, make sure you wear ear plugs to protect the sensitive eardrum. If the eardrum is damaged it may result in hearing loss. Our ears help us understand the words of people around us, enjoy music, hear our children laugh and even help us hear ourselves. Thus, make sure you stay away from sounds that damage hearing and do not make loud sounds that may damage someone else's sense of hearing. If eyes are the windows to the soul, then ears are the doors to the mind. Without ears, you will plunge into the dark world of silenc Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/diagram-of-the-ear-and-its-function.html