I got curious about the macula—where is it, and what does it do? The macula lutea is an oval-shaped, pigmented area located in the center of the retina. It’s responsible for sharp, detailed, color vision in good lighting—what we use for reading, recognising faces, and driving. Damage to the macula, such as in macular degeneration, impairs this central vision.

Though macular degeneration doesn’t cause total blindness, the loss of central vision can significantly impact daily life. The macula makes up only about 2.1% of the retinal area, yet nearly half of the brain’s visual cortex is dedicated to processing its input. The remaining 97.9%—the peripheral vision—usually remains unaffected.

In the U.S., White individuals are about six times more likely to develop age-related macular degeneration than Black or Hispanic individuals. Unfortunately, there’s currently no cure or treatment that can restore vision once it’s lost.