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Normal·Special Senses·Eye

Retina — vertical section showing all layers

Stain: H&E·Magnification: 40x·Tissue: Neural retina + RPE·5 labeled regions
Retina — vertical section showing all layers histology — Special Senses, Eye, H&E
Wikimedia Commons · File:Vertical_section_of_the_human_retina._Wellcome_M0011269.jpg · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vertical_section_of_the_human_retina._Wellcome_M0011269.jpg (CC-licensed)
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Description

Light passes inside → out: ganglion cells → bipolar cells → photoreceptors → RPE. The layered nuclei alternate with synaptic (plexiform) layers. Detachment occurs at the embryonic cleft between neural retina + RPE.

Labeled regions (5)

  1. 1
    Ganglion cell layer

    Cell bodies of output neurons whose axons form the optic nerve. Damaged in glaucoma (cup-disc ratio↑).

  2. 2
    Inner nuclear layer

    Bipolar, horizontal, amacrine, Müller cell bodies. Intermediate processing.

  3. 3
    Outer nuclear layer

    Photoreceptor cell bodies (rods + cones). Far thicker than inner — rods outnumber cones ~20:1 outside the fovea.

  4. 4
    Photoreceptor outer segments

    Stacks of disc membranes containing rhodopsin / opsins. Phagocytosed daily by RPE.

  5. 5
    Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)

    Single pigmented layer outermost; recycles 11-cis retinal + phagocytoses disc tips. Drusen accumulate here in dry AMD.