View of Retina Through an Ophthalmoscope




On the right is a photo of what an eye-care person sees when looking at your retina with an ophthalmoscope. The dark area near the center is the fovea . This area is actually a depression in the retina. Although this photo does not show it, the foveal area has a yellow pigmentation called the macula lutea. When we fixate (look directly at) objects, images of these objects are projected on to the fovea. It is the retinal location of our best visual acuity and color vision.

The the optic disc is the place where all the blood vessels and optic nerves converge and go out of the retina to the brain. The optic disc, also called the blind spot, is where the axons of the ganglion cells leave the retina to form the optic nerve.

It is called the blind spot because there are no rod or cone receptors in this part of the retina and we can not see objects that are imaged on this part of the retina.


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