Scientists from the University of Washington School of Medicine have uncovered some of the reasons behind the unusual perceptual properties of the eye's fovea, which they believe will be essential in search for central vision loss correction strategies and the designing of visual prosthetics.
Researchers were reportedly able to reveal how differences in the cellular and circuit mechanisms of foveal and peripheral retina can account for the well-established differences in their perceptual sensitivities. They found foveal midget ganglion cells process input and output signals in a manner that shows that they are not smaller versions of their peripheral counterparts. Additionally, researchers discovered the dominant neural circuit in the fovea (the midget pathway) operates effectively independent of any sort of “braking” at the specialized signaling junction called the synapse.
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Source: University of Washington Health Sciences