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Our eyesight is an incredible sense. We can gather more about our surroundings in one minute than we could in an hour with our other senses combined, helping us to avoid danger, locate things we want, and entertain ourselves. Seeing is extremely important for communication as well, cluing us in on social cues and other nonverbal forms of communication. Enjoying the beauty of nature and witnessing our friends and family live life together could not be possible without our eyes. With that in mind, let’s take some time to appreciate how our amazing eyes work.

How We See the World Eyes are the organs of the body that are sensitive to and able to distinguish different forms of light. Light bounces off the objects we see in a multitude of different directions, and our eyes pick up the rays which bounce directly into them. Light first hits and travels through the cornea, the clear protective part of our eye. The cornea covers the iris, which is the colored part of our eyes, and the pupil, which is the black hole in the center of our eyes. The iris’ job is to control the amount of light entering the pupil, expanding (dilating) and contracting to adjust appropriately.
Next, the light travels through the eye’s lens, which flips the light upside down and focuses the light on the back surface of the eye (the retina). The lens adjusts its shape differently for faraway objects than it does for close objects. Several reasons exist as to why sometimes the light entering the eye isn’t properly focused on the retina, but whenever this happens, glasses or contacts can correct our vision properly.

The Complexity of the Eye Once light reaches the retina, our amazing eyes relay that information to our brains. Millions of photoreceptors translate light into electric impulses, which the optic nerve carries to the brain. Our brains interpret these impulses, flip them right side up and turn them into what we perceive as the world around us. The parts of the eye may seem rather simple, like a camera, but the eye is a very complex organ. An incredibly large amount of information is detected by the eye and transmitted to the brain, much more than a camera could possibly do.

Our Services
Since our eyes are so vital to sensing and enjoying our world, it is important to treat your eyes right and trust them to the care of an eye doctor. At Southwestern Eye Center, we want you to have the best vision you can possibly have. Make us your eye care specialist today! We can help you with general eye care, cataracts, LASIK, cosmetic procedures, and more.