ABSTRACT
The visual pathway starts at the eye with the photoreceptors. These send an input to cells called retinal ganglion cells in the retina, at the back of the eye. The same principle is true for information from the right of center, only all of the information goes to the left hemisphere. The exception to this is that information from objects we are directly focusing on goes to both hemispheres. The photoreceptors are the cells that convert light information into electrical signals. There are two types of photoreceptor in the human eye, the rods and the cones. The rods are used for seeing in low light conditions but are not capable of encoding color information. The photoreceptors activate bipolar cells, which then activate retinal ganglion cells. Retinal ganglion cells are also activated by amacrine cells. The lateral geniculate nucleus receives input from both eyes. It is a sixlayered nucleus and the input to each of the layers is organized by eye.
