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The optic nerve; The optic chiasma; The optic tract; The lateral geniculate body; The optic radiation; The visual cortex; The visual association cortex. These are components of the visual pathway, also called the optic pathway, [23] that can be divided into anterior and posterior visual pathways.
The fibers from the retina run along the optic nerve to nine primary visual nuclei in the brain, from which a major relay inputs into the primary visual cortex. A fundus photograph showing the back of the retina. The white circle is the beginning of the optic nerve. The optic nerve is composed of retinal ganglion cell axons and glia.
The optic tract is a continuation of the optic nerve that relays information from the optic chiasm to the ipsilateral lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), pretectal nuclei, and superior colliculus. [14] The optic tract represents the first stage in the visual pathway in which visual information is transferred in a homonymous nature. [ 15 ]
The optic chiasm is found in all vertebrates, although in cyclostomes (lampreys and hagfishes), it is located within the brain. [2] [3] This article is about the optic chiasm of vertebrates, which is the best known nerve chiasm, but not every chiasm denotes a crossing of the body midline (e.g., in some invertebrates, see Chiasm (anatomy)).
Visual phototransduction is the sensory transduction process of the visual system by which light is detected by photoreceptor cells (rods and cones) in the vertebrate retina.A photon is absorbed by a retinal chromophore (each bound to an opsin), which initiates a signal cascade through several intermediate cells, then through the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) comprising the optic nerve.
A neural pathway connects one part of the nervous system to another using bundles of axons called tracts. The optic tract that extends from the optic nerve is an example of a neural pathway because it connects the eye to the brain; additional pathways within the brain connect to the visual cortex.
The pathway helps to connect parts of the brain or nervous system that are distant, and are typically known and seen as white matter. In the vision pathway, visual information leaves the eye with the help of the optic nerve. Axons partially cross in the middle of the optic chiasm.
The optic tectum is the visual center in the non-mammalian brain which develops from the alar plate of the mesencephalon. In these other vertebrates the connections from the optic tectum are important for the recognition and reaction to various sized objects which is facilitated by excitatory optic nerve transmitters like L-glutamate. [58]