What parts of the eye are important for color vision?
Click on the image for a larger view Use by permission from reference 4. Most of the important parts of the eye are labeled on the diagram. The cornea and lens focus the image onto the retina. The retina is the part that actually detects incoming light. The iris adjusts in width to partially account for light levels. The fovea is the central focal point of the eye. (That is, when we look at something, we are casting its image onto the fovea.) The fovea is the are where we get most of the spatial detail and color in what we see. The optic nerve is a bundle of nerves which carries the visual information to the brain. Not shown is the macula, which is a filter over the fovea. It serves to limit the damage that might be cause to the fovea if we accidentally focus on intense light sources, such as the sun.
