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Retinal cone
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The cone is one of the cells in the retina that detect light, and that type of cell is called a photoreceptor. Cones sit in the outer nuclear layer, the deepest layer of the retina, the one farthest from the pupil: that is where light detection begins, at the back of the eye.
The cone is not especially good at seeing in dim light. Its job is something else: each cone responds to one particular wavelength, which is the physical definition of a color. There are three types, the L, M and S cones, and color comes from combining what all three report. Each cone is tuned to one stretch of the spectrum, like a string that responds to its own note.
The name comes from its shape: the end of the cell, the outer segment, tapers a little. And they are not spread out evenly. They crowd together in the fovea, the central point of the retina.
In brief
The cone is a photoreceptor in the retina; it sits in the outer nuclear layer, where light detection begins.
It is not very sensitive to light, but it is tuned to one wavelength; three pigments, in the L, M and S cones, produce color vision.
Each cone is tuned to one stretch of the spectrum, like a string that responds to its own note.
Its outer segment narrows slightly, hence the name, and cones are concentrated in the fovea, the center of the retina.
Sources (2)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingHistology, Retina, StatPearlsPublished
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingColor Vision, StatPearlsPublished
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