Visual system

The visual system is the part of the nervous system which allows organisms to see.
It interprets the information from visible light to build a representation of the world surrounding the body. The visual system has the complex task of (re)constructing a three dimensional world from a two dimensional projection of that world. The psychological manifestation of visual information is known as visual perception.

Introduction
This article mostly describes the visual system of mammals, although other "higher" animals have similar visual systems. In this case, the visual system consists of:

 The eye, especially the retina
 The optic nerve
 The optic chiasma
 The optic tract
 The lateral geniculate nucleus
 The optic tectum (superior colliculus)
 The optic radiation
 The visual cortex
 The visual association cortex

Different species are able to see different parts of the light spectrum; for example, bees can see into the ultraviolet,J Bellingham, SE Wilkie, AG Morris, JK Bowmaker and DM Hunt (1997), "Characterisation of the ultraviolet-sensitive opsin gene in the honey bee, Apis mellifera", European Journal of Biochemistry, Vol 243, 775-781 while pit vipers can accurately target prey with their infrared imaging sensors.<ref>	     AB Safer and MS Grace (2004),   "Infrared imaging in vipers: differential responses of crotaline and viperine snakes to paired thermal targets". Behav Brain Res. 154(1):55-61. 2004 Sep 23. </ref>

References

David H. Hubel 1989. Eye, Brain and Vision. New York: Scientific American Library.
David Marr 1982. Vision: A Computational Investigation into the Human Representation and Processing of Visual Information. San Francisco: Freeman.
R.W. Rodiek 1988. The Primate Retina. In Comparative Primate Biology. vol 4 of Neurosciences. eds H.D. Steklis and J. Erwin. pp. 203–278. New York: A.R. Liss.
Matthew Schmolesky, The Primary Visual Cortex 
Martin J. Tovée 1996. An introduction to the visual system. Cambridge University Press. 
Andreas Vesalius 1543. De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Workings of the Human Body)
Torsten Wiesel and David H. Hubel 1963. The effects of visual deprivation on the morphology and physiology of cell's lateral geniculate body. Journal of Neurophysiology'' 26, 978-993.

Other websites
"Webvision: The Organization of the Retina and Visual System" - John Moran Eye Center at University of Utah
VisionScience.com - An online resource for researchers in vision science.
Journal of Vision - An online, open access journal of vision science.

Category:Vision