Abstract
With recent advances in the structural imaging, it is now possible to visualize individual retinal layers of the human retina in vivo. After a short summary of the technique of optical coherence tomography (OCT), its application to understanding the structure and function of the normal and diseased eye will be considered. First, measurements of the thickness of the normal human receptor, inner nuclear, and ganglion cell layers will be presented and the possibilities of using this technique to study normal human vision discussed. Next, data from patients with diseases that affect the receptors (e.g. retinitis pigmentosa) and retinal ganglion cells (e.g. glaucoma) will be presented and discussed in terms of tests of hypotheses about the relationship between behavior (i.e. visual loss) and structural (i.e. anatomical) changes in these layers.