Diseases / Macula degeneration

What is the “macula” in macular degeneration?

The macula is the center most part of the retina, a blood rich membrane lining the back of the eye. To a doctor looking through your pupil and examining the inside part of the eye, most of the retina appears reddish in color.

However, in the central most part of the retina opposite the pupil, there is a circular area that has fewer blood vessels and some pigmentary changes, this area is the macula and has an almost yellowish hue. It measures about a fifth of an inch (5mm) across.

In the center of the macula is a tiny, cup-shaped depression no larger than the period at the end of this sentence. This area of the macula is called the fovea centralis. It is the part of the macula that contains the largest concentration of color photoreceptors, the retinal nerve cells that are responsible or reading and seeing in color. The color receptors found in the macula are called cone cells and those peripheral to the macula that enable us to have black and white vision, especially vision in the dark, are called rods.

When we turn our eyes to “get a good look” at something, we are positioning our eyes to align the macula, so that light rays coming through the center of our pupils falls directly on the macula. When this happens, these special nerve cells in the macula send signals to the brain. The brain uses these special messages to form an image, for it is the brain that is truly seeing.