Molecular biology of visual pigments

摘要: The vertebrate retina is a tissue that has become adapted through evolution to act as an efficient collector of photons light. acts two-dimensional array detector samples light from different points in space within set time intervals, integrating the signal and counting frequency photon arrival. Cells neural perform some initial processing enhancement on captured image before it relayed higher order areas brain. One most astonishing features that, performing this function converting complex visual scene into representation, all information initially passes via one type cellular membrane ‘receptor’, so-called ‘visual pigments’. When pigments were first extracted two important characteristics noted. formed basis now largely abandoned pigment naming system concerned fact colored (i.e. rhodopsin, porphyropsin, cyanopsin etc.).