The Retina: A Multi-Layered Jigsaw Puzzle

More than 1.25 million neurons are in the retina, each of which senses the world through a small window called a receptive field. The output from these cells produces the seamless picture we rely on to navigate our environment. Jeffrey Gauthier and his colleagues at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the University of California, Santa Cruz, have found that the receptive fields fit together like pieces of a puzzle. They prevent "blind spots" and excessive overlap that could blur our perception of the world.

Learn More About Your Eyes:

• What Is a Retina?
• Vision 101
• Anatomy of the Eye

_{Source: Plos Bilogy. The Retina Is Like A Multi-Layered Jigsaw Puzzle Of Receptive FieldsMedical News Today, 7 Apr 2009.}

_{Photo © Photodisc / Getty Images}