Vision: The Eye - Functional Specialization of the Rod and Cones

4 important questions on Vision: The Eye - Functional Specialization of the Rod and Cones

What photoreceptor is responsible for the vision of color?

Cones

Why is it hard to discriminate objects in the dark?

Because the cones are not activated in the dark. Vision is only mediated by the rods. This is called scotopic

What is the role of the rods during daylight?

Rods do not contribute to vision in daylight (phototopic vision). The membrane channels are closed due to contineous decrease of cGMP.
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What makes the rod system a better detector of light?

Multiple rods convergence to 1 ganglion cell (via 1 bipolar cell). Small signals from many rods accumulate to generate a large response in the bipolar cell. This is why rods can discriminate little light in contrast to cones (which have a one-on-one relation with the ganglion cells)

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