THE HEAD

THE EYE

The human eye is the organ which gives us the sense of sight, allowing us to observe
and learn more about the surrounding world than we do with any of the other four
senses.

GENERAL ANATOMY

Parts of the Eye

 Lens – the nearly spherical body in the eye, located behind the cornea, that focuses light rays
onto the retina
 Posterior chamber – behind the iris and in front of the lens
 Anterior chamber – behind the cornea and in front of the iris and lens
 Cornea – the clear part of the eye covering the iris and pupil; it lets light into the eye, permitting
sight.
 Pupil – the round, dark center of the eye, which opens and closes to regulate the amount of light
the retina receives.
 Aqueous humur – clear fluid in the front of the eye, between the cornea and the iris, that
provides nutrients to the cornea and the lens. The fluid is produced by the cilliary body.
 *Glaucoma causes a difficulty in draining this fluid, and intraocular pressure builds up.
The result is damage to the optic nerve and loss of vision.
 Iris – colored part of your eye surrounding the pupil. This pigmented membrane lies between
the cornea and the lens; it acts as a diaphragm to widen or narrow the opening called the pupil,
thereby controlling the amount of light that enters the eye.
 Conjuctiva – mucous membrane that lines the visible part of the eye and the inner surface of the
eyelids.
 Suspensory ligament – also called zonule of Zin. Membrane of fibers (zonules) that holds the
eye’s lens in place.
 Ciliary body – between the iris and the choroid; functions are accomodation, AH production and
holding the lens in place.
 Lateral rectus muscle – muscle that moves the eye away from the nose
 Sclera – outer coat of the eyeball that forms the visible white of the eye and surrounds the optic
nerve at the back of the eyeball.
 Choroid – layes of blood vessels located between the sclera and the retina; they provide
nourishment to the back area of the eye
 Retina – the sensory membrane that lines the eye;
 Forvea – a depression in the retina contains only cones (not rods), and that provides acute
eyesight
 Optic nerve – the nerve that carries electircal impulses from photoreceptor cells in the retina to
the visual cortex in the brain
 Optic nerve head – also called optic disk. Circular area where the optic nerve enters the retina,
and the location of the eye’s blind spot
 Vitreous body – between the lens and the retina, contaning a clear jelly called the vitreous
humor.
 Medial rectus muscle – muscle that moves the eye toward the nose.

EXTRAOCULAR MUSCLE
EYE MOVEMENTS

Conjugate eye movements are those that preserve the angular relationship between the right and
left eyes. 

Vergence eye movements are ones where the angle between they eyes changes

Saccades or saccadic eye movements are very fast jumps from one eye position to another. 

Smooth pursuit movements are just as their name implies.  The eyes move smoothly instead of
in jumps.  They are called pursuit because this type of eye movement is made when the eyes
follow an object.

Fixed gaze movements are tiny tremors of the eyeballs when the gaze is
fixated on a single point.

Nystagmus is a result of the vestibular balance system. The vestibular

system has a profound influence on eye movements.
The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) is the system that generates
nystagmus. The VOR is a reflex the brain uses to maintain a steady view of
an object despite the fact that the observer's head is moving and this head
movement would normally blur or disturb the clear vision of the object

The Optokinetic Reflex is a closely-related reflex which allows the eyes to

follow a moving target even when the head remains motionless.

GAZE MIS-ALIGNMENTS OR STRABISMUS

E. Cranial Nerves.

Twelves "cranial nerves" emerge from the base of the brain to innervate
different parts of the head and neck.
 I - Olfactory
II - Optic
III - Oculomotor
IV - Trochlear
V - Trigeminal
VI - Abducens
VII - Facial
VIII - Auditory
IX - Glossopharyngeal
X - Vagus
XI - Accessory
XII - Hypoglassal

Three of these cranial nerves (III, IV, and VI) emerge from the brain and
attach to the various extraocular muscles, and signalling along these nerves
controls the muscles that aim the eyeballs. The three controlling cranial
nerves are the oculomotor nerve (Cranial Nerve III, Supplies four of the six
extraocular muscles of the eye and the levator palpebrae superioris muscle
of the upper eyelid),
the trochlear nerve (Cranial Nerve IV, innervates the superior oblique muscle
of the contralateral orbit),
and the abducens nerve (Cranial Nerve VI, innervates the lateral rectus
muscle of the ipsilateral orbit).