What is the difference between the yellow spot and the blind spot?

The yellow spot is the point of sharpest vision, since it is here that the highest density of color-sensitive light receptors on the retina is found. It lies exactly in the visual axis. An image that is located in the center of the field of vision therefore falls on the yellow spot.

Next to it in the direction of the nose is the so-called blind spot. This is the point at which the optic nerve reaches the eye. In addition, several vessels enter the eye from here.

This is why light receptors are missing at this point. While the yellow spot is the point of sharpest vision, the eye completely lacks the visual information at the blind spot. However, the brain compensates for this completely through the second eye.

Diseases of the yellow spot

The most important disease of the yellow spot is macular degeneration, which affects about 2 million people in Germany alone. Here it comes to a death of the sensory cells and thus to partial blindness of the affected person. The causes for this can be manifold: The majority of the affected persons suffers from age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

In addition to age, smoking and various genetic predispositions are possible causes. Also in case of severe myopia or due to side effects of various drugs (certain rheumatism drugs and preventive drugs against malaria) macular degeneration can occur. In the following you will find an overview of the most frequent and most relevant diseases of the yellow spot:In macular degeneration there is a slowly progressing decay of the yellow spot.

Since this is the point in the center of the field of vision the central visual acuity decreases until finally blindness occurs. The most common form is the senile, age-related macular degeneration. A distinction is also made between the wet and dry macular degeneration.

At the wet macular degeneration new vessels are formed in the area of the yellow spot. However these vessels are rather inferior so that it comes easily to bleeding. At the much more frequent dry macular degeneration these vascular neoplasms are missing.

It runs clearly slower.More about this clinical picture can be found on our page Macular degenerationMacular edema is a collection of fluid in the area of the yellow spot. It occurs for example in case of an inflammation of the retina or choroid. Also by vascular diseases, for example due to a diabetes mellitus, it can come to a macular edema.

Due to the accumulation of fluid, the yellow spot can swell and the visual field appears blurred. For further information please see our topic Macular Edema. Macular ectopia is a shift of the yellow spot from the central visual axis.

Therefore an image in the middle of the field of vision does not necessarily fall on the yellow spot anymore, which can impair vision. This can be congenital or result from a disease or surgery. In congenital macular ectopia, the brain can bring the displaced yellow spot back to the center of the visual axis by squinting, this is called pseudostrabismus.