GLOSSARY

The visual pathway is a chain of neural structures that carries light information received by the retina to the visual cortex in the occipital lobe, where visual perception is formed.

Components of the Pathway

• Retina: photoreceptors (rods and cones) → bipolar cells → ganglion cells.
• Optic nerve (CN II): the axons of the ganglion cells.
• Optic chiasm: where fibres from the nasal (inner) half of each retina cross.
• Optic tract: carries information from the opposite half of the visual field.
• Lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus: the main relay.
• Optic radiations: through the temporal (Meyer’s loop) and parietal lobes.
• Primary visual cortex (V1).

Side Branches

About 10 percent of fibres go to the midbrain