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The iris consists of two layers: the front pigmented fibrovascular layer known as a stroma and, behind the stroma, pigmented epithelial cells.. The stroma is connected to a sphincter muscle (sphincter pupillae), which contracts the pupil in a circular motion, and a set of dilator muscles (dilator pupillae), which pull the iris radially to enlarge the pupil, pulling it in folds.
The pupil constricts when the iris sphincter muscle is stimulated and contracts. In humans, it functions to constrict the pupil in bright light (pupillary light reflex) or during accommodation. [citation needed] In lower animals, the muscle cells themselves are photosensitive causing iris action without brain input. [5]
The iris dilator muscle (pupil dilator muscle, pupillary dilator, radial muscle of iris, radiating fibers), is a smooth muscle [2] of the eye, running radially in the iris and therefore fit as a dilator. The pupillary dilator consists of a spokelike arrangement of modified contractile cells called myoepithelial cells.
A smooth-muscle cell is a spindle-shaped myocyte with a wide middle and tapering ends, and a single nucleus. Like striated muscle, smooth muscle can tense and relax. In the relaxed state, each cell is 30–200 micrometers in length, some thousands of times shorter than a skeletal muscle cell. [1]
Structure of the iris and surrounding parts showing the stroma of iris (stroma iridis). The stroma connects to a sphincter muscle ( sphincter pupillae ), which contracts the pupil in a circular motion, and a set of dilator muscles ( dilator pupillae ) which pull the iris radially to enlarge the pupil, pulling it in folds.
The outer layer is highly pigmented, continuous with the retinal pigment epithelium, and constitutes the cells of the dilator muscle. This double membrane is often considered continuous with the retina and a rudiment of the embryological correspondent to the retina. The inner layer is unpigmented until it reaches the iris, where it takes on ...
An area termed the limbus connects the cornea and sclera. The iris is the pigmented circular structure concentrically surrounding the centre of the eye, the pupil, which appears to be black. The size of the pupil, which controls the amount of light entering the eye, is adjusted by the iris' dilator and sphincter muscles.
The ciliary muscle controls accommodation by altering the shape of the lens to be able to see an object from near to far. [2] The pupillary sphincter muscle and pupillary dilator muscle control the iris to adjust the size of the pupil to adjust how much light enters into the eye.