Visual phototransduction is a process by which light is converted into electrical signals in the rod cells and cone cells of the retina of the eye. It is divided into an activation process and an inactivation process. Prism splitting light Light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength that is visible to the eye, or in a more general sense, any electromagnetic radiation in the range from infrared to ultraviolet. ... For the Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact publication, see Astounding Magazine. ... Normalised absoption spectra of human rod (R) and cone (S,M,L) cells. ... Normalised absorption spectra of human cone (S,M,L) and rod (R) cells Cone cells, or cones, are cells in the retina which only function in relatively bright light. ... Human eye cross-sectional view. ... An eye is an organ that detects light. ...
Phototransduction is the best studied example of a GTP binding protein (G protein)-coupled signal transduction pathway.
Although rhodopsin's role in activating the phototransduction cascade is well known, the processes that deactivate rhodopsin, and thus the rest of the cascade, are less well understood.
The complex mechanism of phototransduction and the presence of four different voltage-gated conductance in Limulus ventral nerve photoreceptors indicate that these cells are far less differentiated than the photoreceptor cells of vertebrates.