Eye and Vision Terms
The eyes, vision, eye examinations, and ophthalmic conditions. Browse definitions and meanings below.
What is ophthalmology?
Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine dealing with the eye and its diseases. An ophthalmologist is a physician who can also operate, treating cataract, glaucoma, retinal disease and injury. An optometrist examines eyes, prescribes correction and detects disease; an optician supplies the lenses.
Eye vocabulary describes the short path light takes, and most terms name a point along it: the cornea at the front, then the lens, then the retina at the back, with the optic nerve carrying the result to the brain. Where the trouble sits usually explains what a person notices.
Terms in this topic
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A condition in which there is a slow breakdown of cells in the center of the retina (the light-sensitive layers of nerve tissue at the back of the eye).
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Reading, driving and recognizing faces all rely on the macula, and AMD is a leading cause of central vision loss in later life.
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A condition in which the lens of the eye becomes cloudy.
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A thin layer of tissue that is part of the middle layer of the wall of the eye, between the sclera (white outer layer of the eye) and the retina (the inner layer of nerve tissue at the back of the…
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An exam of the inside of the back of the eye using an ophthalmoscope (a flashlight-sized instrument with a light source and a set of rotating lenses).
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Eye cancer includes several distinct cancer types affecting different eye tissues, ranging from pigment producing cells to the retina itself.
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A condition in which there is a build-up of fluid in the eye, which presses on the retina and the optic nerve.
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An exam of the inside of the back of the eye using a beam of light and a hand-held lens.
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A condition in which there is a slow breakdown of cells in the center of the retina (the light-sensitive layers of nerve tissue at the back of the eye).
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A protein found on normal melanocytes (cells that make the pigment melanin) in the skin and in the retina.
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Scattered patches of damage explain the scattered symptoms, since what a person notices depends entirely on which pathway has been hit.
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Ocular melanoma is a rare cancer of the pigment producing cells within the eye, most often arising in the middle layer called the uvea.
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Ophthalmic describes anything relating to the eye, including its anatomy, diseases, examinations, and medications formulated for eye use.
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A doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating eye problems, including injury and disease.
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A handheld light and lens that turns the pupil into a window onto living blood vessels and nerve tissue.
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The place in the brain where some of the optic nerve fibers coming from one eye cross optic nerve fibers from the other eye.
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The place in the brain where some of the optic nerve fibers coming from one eye cross optic nerve fibers from the other eye.
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The optic nerve carries visual signals from the retina to the brain and is itself considered an extension of brain tissue.
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A rare, slow-growing tumor that usually forms in the optic nerve, optic chiasm, or optic tract.
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The nerves that travel from the optic chiasm (place in the brain where some of the optic nerve fibers cross) into certain parts of the brain involved in vision.