ABSTRACT
The eye is not a camera. Although optical images are focused onto the retina, the light-sensitive region at the back of the eye, these images are not what we perceive. In a series of transformations carried out first in the retina itself and in stages through to the visual cortex of the brain, the information is changed: the balance of brightness and colour is altered; attention is concentrated on small zones while larger areas are relatively unnoticed; images of the present scene are replaced by images from memory.
