| | | The retina is the light-sensitive multi-layered membrane lining much of the inside of the eyeball. It is responsible for receiving images projected on it by the lens and converting the information into nerve impulses. Starting from the outside and working inwards, the retina consists of a pigmented layer, a layer of light-receptors (rods and cones), and then layers of neurons which begin processing the information before passing it back to the brain via the optic nerves. It is interesting to note that in the embryo the retina is derived from a portion of the brain wall which bulges outwards as the optic vesicle. The optic vesicle approaches the outer layer of the embryo, the ectoderm, and induces a lens to form. As the lens forms, the optic vesicle becomes cup-shaped and the future retina lines the inside of the optic cup. | 
|  medium-power view
of section through retina |  high-power view of
the receptor layer |  high-power view of
innermost ganglion layer |
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