How your eyes work

The human eye is an extraordinary sensory organ. Our vision allows us to be aware of our surroundings.

Eighty per cent of everything we learn is through using vision.

Your eye works in a similar way to a camera. When you look at an object, light reflected from the object enters the eyes through the pupil and is focused through the optical components within the eye.

The light is focused to a pinpoint on the back of the eye at an area called the macula.

The macula is a small area in the centre of the retina. It is responsible for central detailed vision, allowing us to see fine detail and colour, read and recognise faces.

The retina is the light sensitive membrane that covers the back of the eye. This membrane consists of millions of nerve cells which gather together behind the eye to form a large nerve called the optic nerve.

When light stimulates the nerve cells, messages are sent along the optic nerve to the brain. The optic nerves from the two eyes join inside the brain. The brain uses information from each optic nerve to combine the vision from the two eyes allowing us to see one image.

To find out more, download the information sheets below.