What is the role of the retina?

• A. It focuses light onto the cornea.
• B. It captures and transduces light using photoreceptors.
• C. It regulates intraocular pressure.
• D. It secretes aqueous humor.

Answer: (B)

Capturing light and turning it into neural signals is the retina’s role. It houses photoreceptors—rods for low light and cones for color and sharpness—that absorb photons and trigger a phototransduction cascade to convert light into electrical activity. This initial signal is then processed by retinal interneurons and transmitted by retinal ganglion cells, whose axons form the optic nerve to carry information to the brain. The retina does not focus light—that job belongs to the cornea and lens. It also doesn’t regulate intraocular pressure or secrete aqueous humor; those functions involve the ciliary body and outflow pathways in the eye’s anterior segment.