Rod cell

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Rod cell
Cross section of the retina. Rods are visible at far right.
Details
Location	Retina
Shape	Rod-shaped
Function	Low-light photoreceptor
Neurotransmitter	Glutamate
Presynaptic connections	None
Postsynaptic connections	Bipolar cells and horizontal cells
Identifiers
MeSH	D017948
NeuroLex ID	nlx_cell_100212
TH	H3.11.08.3.01030
FMA	67747
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy [edit on Wikidata]

Rod cells are photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye that can function in lower light better than the other type of visual photoreceptor, cone cells. Rods are usually found concentrated at the outer edges of the retina and are used in peripheral vision. On average, there are approximately 92 million rod cells (vs ~6 million cones) in the human retina.^[1] Rod cells are more sensitive than cone cells and are almost entirely responsible for night vision. However, rods have little role in color vision, which is the main reason why colors are much less apparent in dim light.