Pressing the left icon opens a menu in which you can toggle various items on and off
While pressing the right icon allows you to adjust how changing the contrast and brightness will affect the image, and shows you a preview of each combination
In the middle row you have icons to toggle the colour channels window if you are viewing a fluorescent image type e.g.:
The button on the right toggles the Colour Adjustment panel, where you can view the image histogram, adjust brightness, contrast, gamma, and RGB channels
The remainder of the buttons in this workgroup help you change the orientation of the image, or reset to the default view.