Definition of "photoreceptor" []

• A nerve ending, cell, or group of cells specialized to sense or receive light. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "A photoreceptor is a nerve cell found in the eye's retina that is capable of phototransduction, or the process by which light is converted into electrical signals."
• ""The downstream retinal neurons that receive and process information from photoreceptor cells are preserved for years after the onset of blindness," says Dr. Collins, "giving hope that visual sensitivity might be restored by allowing the artificial input of information to these surviving cells.""
• "Their technique involves introducing light-sensing molecules, or "photoswitches," into retinas that have lost photoreceptor cells."