Source: # How it works? (Chapter 19) *From the book – Chapter 19: How Five Senses Actually Work* ## How it works - Light enters the eye through the cornea and pupil. - The lens focuses light onto the retina at the back of the eye. - Photoreceptors activate: rods detect light and dark and work in low light; cones detect colour (red, green, blue) and work in bright light. - Retinal cells convert light to electrical signals. - The optic nerve carries signals to the brain. - Visual cortex (occipital lobe) processes the information into images. Key structures: cornea, pupil, lens, retina, optic nerve; occipital lobe. [Read the full chapter – Chapter 19: How Five Senses Actually Work](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/19/) ## Stories from real life - [The Grandfather Who Stopped Coming to the Table](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/the-grandfather-who-stopped-coming-to-the-table-77/) – Raghunath Kulkarni, seventy-one, used to be the loudest voice at the family dinner in Nashik. He argued about cricket, teased his grandchildren and told the same… - [The Dark Months in Helsinki](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/the-dark-months-in-helsinki-78/) – Aino Virtanen was twenty-three when she moved from Chennai to Helsinki for her master's degree. September was beautiful. By November the sun rose late and set… - [Mihir and the Scratchy Shirt](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/mihir-and-the-scratchy-shirt-79/) – Mihir, seven, cried every morning about his school uniform. 'It scratches! The tag is stabbing me!' His parents in Ahmedabad thought he was making excuses to… - [Leela, Age 41](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/leela-age-41-175/) – Two years after surviving a terrifying kitchen fire, forty-one-year-old Leela realised something strange was happening to her nervous system. Whenever she encountered the smell of a… ## Shloks - [Bhagavad Gita 15.9](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/shloka/bhagavad-gita-15-9-27/) – Presiding over ear, eye, touch, taste and smell, and over the mind, the person enjoys the objects. More on this topic: [The brain, hormones and body chemistry behind your moods](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/brain-and-body/) ## More questions - [Mental health connection – sight (vision)](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/mental-health-connection-sight-vision/) - [Understanding hearing (auditory) – how the five senses work](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/understanding-hearing-auditory-how-the-five-senses-work/) - [How it works? (Chapter 19)](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/how-it-works-2/) - [Mental health connection – hearing (auditory)](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/mental-health-connection-hearing-auditory/) - [Understanding smell (olfactory) – how the five senses work](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/understanding-smell-olfactory-how-the-five-senses-work/) - [How it works? (Chapter 19)](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/how-it-works-3/) - [Mental health connection – smell (olfactory)](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/mental-health-connection-smell-olfactory/) - [Understanding taste (gustatory) – how the five senses work](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/understanding-taste-gustatory-how-the-five-senses-work/) - [How it works? (Chapter 19)](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/how-it-works-4/) - [Mental health connection – taste (gustatory)](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/mental-health-connection-taste-gustatory/) [myadvisorfriend@gmail.com](mailto:myadvisorfriend@gmail.com) · [Contact](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/contact/) · [About](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/about/) · [Privacy](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/privacy/) · [Disclaimer](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/disclaimer/) --- *Psychology for Everyone – A Mental Well Being Series* by Satish Zope · free to read · Contact: [myadvisorfriend@gmail.com](mailto:myadvisorfriend@gmail.com) · [About](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/about/) · [Privacy](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/privacy/) · [Disclaimer](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/disclaimer/)