Final answer:
The statement is true; bleaching does lead to changes in the shape of retinal and opsin, which are a crucial part of the light detection and signal transduction process in the visual system.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that bleaching induces conformational changes in both retinal and the associated opsin is true. In the visual system, photoreceptors contain the photopigment rhodopsin, which consists of two main parts: the trans-membrane protein opsin, and a light-absorbing molecule called retinal. When light strikes retinal, it undergoes a change in shape from a bent (cis) form to a linear (trans) isomer, a process known as photoisomerization. This conformational change in retinal activates the opsin, which then leads to the activation of a G-protein called transducin and a series of downstream events that contribute to visual signal transduction. The alteration in retinal from 11-cis-retinal to all-trans-retinal, and the subsequent series of enzymatic changes that reverse this process, are essential for the photoreceptor cell's ability to respond to light energy again after having been bleached.