macula
- n a cooler darker spot appearing periodically on the sun's photosphere; associated with a strong magnetic field
- n a small yellowish central area of the retina that is rich in cones and that mediates clear detailed vision
- n a patch of skin that is discolored but not usually elevated; caused by various diseases
- Without a healthy macula, people cannot read a newspaper, recognize a friend, thread a needle, watch TV, safely negotiate stairs or see much of anything at all.
- That disease is known as age-related macular degeneration, in which the eye's macula, a remarkably sensitive structure in the middle of the retina, gradually loses its ability to .
- An electron micrograph of a human retina shows the crater-like macula, with the fovea at its center.