Objectives: An understanding of the development and aging of the visual system. The effect of disease on the visual system is briefly discussed.

Brief curriculum: Development of the visual system: embryology of the eye and brain, axon pathfinding, receptive field development, development of the visual cortex, critical periods, plasticity, reorganisation of cortical inputs; Development of vision: spatial vision, colour vision, motion perception, shape perception, binocularity; Ageing: physiology of aging, effect of age on brain function, effect of age on the visual system, effect of age on vision; Effect of disease: the effects of brain injury, retinal disease, refractive error, amblyopia and drugs on visual perception are briefly covered.