Title: photoreceptor cell Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - photoreceptor cell DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.12009 Status: current Definition Specialized neuron found in the retina, involved in detecting light and transducing the signals of vision Note The two main types of photoreceptor cells are rod cells, responsible for vision at low light intensities, and cone cells, responsible for colour and high acuity vision at higher light intensities. Source - PAC, 2015, 87, 841. 'IUPAC Glossary of terms used in neurotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2015)' on page 897 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-0103) Other Outputs - html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12009/html - json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12009/json - xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12009/xml Citation: Citation: 'photoreceptor cell' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.12009 License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms. Collection: If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org . Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using. Accessed: 2026-07-25T01:01:28+00:00