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The iris dilator muscle (pupil dilator muscle, pupillary dilator, radial muscle of iris, radiating fibers), is a smooth muscle [2] of the eye, running radially in the iris and therefore fit as a dilator. The pupillary dilator consists of a spokelike arrangement of modified contractile cells called myoepithelial cells.
The pupil constricts when the iris sphincter muscle is stimulated and contracts. In humans, it functions to constrict the pupil in bright light (pupillary light reflex) or during accommodation. [citation needed] In lower animals, the muscle cells themselves are photosensitive causing iris action without brain input. [5]
An area termed the limbus connects the cornea and sclera. The iris is the pigmented circular structure concentrically surrounding the centre of the eye, the pupil, which appears to be black. The size of the pupil, which controls the amount of light entering the eye, is adjusted by the iris' dilator and sphincter muscles.
The iris consists of two layers: the front pigmented fibrovascular layer known as a stroma and, behind the stroma, pigmented epithelial cells.. The stroma is connected to a sphincter muscle (sphincter pupillae), which contracts the pupil in a circular motion, and a set of dilator muscles (dilator pupillae), which pull the iris radially to enlarge the pupil, pulling it in folds.
The pupillary dilator muscle increases the pupillary diameter and it is arranged radially, but the pupillary sphincter muscle is responsible for the constriction of the pupil's diameter and it encircles the pupil. [2] The pupillary dilation is also called mydriasis, and the constriction of the pupil is also called miosis. [1]
It also changes the shape of the lens within the eye but not the size of the pupil [5] which is carried out by the sphincter pupillae muscle and dilator pupillae. The ciliary muscle, pupillary sphincter muscle and pupillary dilator muscle sometimes are called intrinsic ocular muscles [6] or intraocular muscles. [7]
By analogy with a camera, the pupil is equivalent to aperture, whereas the iris is equivalent to the diaphragm. It may be helpful to consider the Pupillary reflex as an 'Iris' reflex, as the iris sphincter and dilator muscles are what can be seen responding to ambient light. [2] Whereas, the pupil is the passive opening formed by the active iris.
Pupillary response is a physiological response that varies the size of the pupil between 1.5 mm and 8 mm, [1] via the optic and oculomotor cranial nerve. A constriction response ( miosis ), [ 2 ] is the narrowing of the pupil, which may be caused by scleral buckles or drugs such as opiates / opioids or anti-hypertension medications.