Optics which are sensitive to different aspects of light. Rod cells are sensitive to the intensity of light over a wide frequency range, thus are responsible for black-and-white vision. Rod cells are not present on the fovea, the area of the retina responsible for central vision, and are not as responsive as cone cells to spatial and temporal changes in light. There are, however, twenty times more rod cells than cone cells in the retina because the rod cells are present across a wider area. Because of their wider distribution, rods are responsible for peripheral vision. In contrast, cone cells are
Macula of retina distinguish different colors. There is only one type of rod, but the rods are more sensitive than the cones, so in dim light they are the dominant photoreceeptors active, and without information provided by the separate spectral sensitivity of the cones it is impossible to discriminate colors. In the fovea "centralis", cones predominate, and are present at high density. The macula is thus responsible for the central, high-resolution, color vision that is possible in good light; and this kind of vision is impaired if the macula is damaged, for example in macular degeneration. The clinical macula is seen when viewed