Panuma Zone

Pannum Zona (P.L. Panum, 1830–1890) - an outstanding Danish ophthalmologist and physiologist, the founder of the neuro-reflex theory of vision.

Pannum lived in an era when data on the physiology of the nervous system and sensory organs were very scarce. The scientist was able to use I. Muller’s ideas about the projection of individual properties of objects onto individual receptor fields, as well as P. Broca’s concept of the efferent nervous system. As a result, he developed the theoretical foundations to create a new theory explaining the mechanisms of vision and visual adaptation. This theory, known as the neuro-reflex theory, became the foundation for subsequent studies of visual function at the intersection with vision pathology. She defended the idea that adaptation of the visual system is carried out through reflex mechanisms. These mechanisms may involve sympathetic connections between the ocular muscles involved in lens movement. Therefore, there is a complex interaction and distribution of afferent stimuli from the optic nerve and efferent signals to the brain region associated with lens movement.