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The Pupil

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Physiology of the Eye

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Abstract

The aperture of the refracting system of the eye is controlled by the iris which behaves as a diaphragm, contracting or expanding as a result of the opposing actions of two muscles of ectodermal origin, namely the sphincter pupillae and the dilator pupillae. As classically described, the sphincter is an annular band of smooth muscle, 0.75 to 0.8 mm broad in man, encircling the pupillary border, which on contraction draws out the iris and constricts the pupillary aperture. At the pupillary border the muscle is closely associated with the pigment epithelium, so that, on contraction, the latter tends to be drawn on to the anterior surface of the iris. The sphincter is closely adherent to the adjacent connective tissue so that, after an iridectomy, it does not contract up, and the pupil remains reactive to light. Like the sphincter, the dilator muscle is of ectodermal origin, but in the sphincter the ectodermal cells have been transformed into true muscle fibres whereas the cells of the dilator retain their primitive characteristics and are called myoepithelial cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Thomas’s Hospital, Southampton University Medical Schools, London, UK

    Hugh Davson DSc (Lond) (Visiting Professor of Physiology, Honorary Research Fellow, Fellow)

  2. King’s College, London, UK

    Hugh Davson DSc (Lond) (Visiting Professor of Physiology, Honorary Research Fellow, Fellow)

  3. University College, London, UK

    Hugh Davson DSc (Lond) (Visiting Professor of Physiology, Honorary Research Fellow, Fellow)

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  1. Hugh Davson DSc (Lond)
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© 1990 Hugh Davson

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Davson, H. (1990). The Pupil. In: Physiology of the Eye. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-09997-9_26

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-09997-9_26

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-09999-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-09997-9

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