Visual System

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Introduction
 The eye is the organ of vision and it is the only receptor that
is actually part of the central nervous.
 The optic nerve grows out from the brain and enters the retina.
 Vision is the most important of all our senses, We perceive the
world mostly through our eyes.
 In the visual system, the primary, secondary, and tertiary
neurons are in the retina and are all part of the central
nervous system.

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Introduction
 The right field of vision projects to the left cerebral
hemisphere; the left field of vision projects to the right
cerebral hemisphere.
 The optic nerve (CN II) is the second cranial nerve,
responsible for transmitting the special sensory information
for vision.
 It is developed from the optic vesicle, an out pocketing of the
forebrain.

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Introduction
 The optic nerve is considered to be part of the central
nervous system, and examination of the nerve enables an
assessment of intracranial health.
 Due to its unique anatomical relation to the brain, the
optic nerve is surrounded by the cranial meninges (not
by epi-, peri- and endoneurium like most other
peripheral nerves).

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Introduction
 There are approximately one million axons in the optic
nerve, constituting almost 40% of the total number of
axons in all cranial nerves.
 The primary sensors for sight are the 130 million rods
and seven million cones found in the retina.

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The visual pathway
 The visual pathway is composed of four
neuronal elements.
 Photoreceptors, bipolar cells, and retinal
ganglion cells found in the retina.
 Axons of ganglion cells pass through the
optic nerve, optic chiasm, and optic tract.
 The fourth neuronal elements are found in
the lateral geniculate body; their axons
form the optic radiation and terminate in the
primary visual cortex.

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 Axons of ganglion cells pass through the
The visual pathway optic nerve, optic chiasm, and optic
tract.
 First neuron: photoreceptors
 Second neuron: bipolar cells
 Third neuron: retinal ganglion cells (and
their axonal processes, including the chiasm
and optic tracts)
 Fourth neuron: geniculocalcarine neurons

The fourth neuronal elements are found in the

lateral geniculate body; their axons form the
optic radiation and terminate in the primary
visual cortex. 7
 First Neuron: Photoreceptors
 The retina contains across its outer surface (about 12 cm 2)
nearly 65 million photoreceptors per eye about 3.2 million cones
and 60 million rods.
 Rods: Vision in Dim Light and Night Vision. The rods are
sensitive in dim light as they contain more of the photosensitive
pigment rhodopsin than the cones. they are not important for
daytime vision or for visual acuity. Because they are not able to
distinguish colors, they produce achromatic vision.

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Cones
 Color Vision Cones. The rods and cones are not uniformly
distributed in the retina.
 Cones are responsible for the visual acuity of the human
eye (the ability of the eye to resolve and to pick up the minor
details on an object) and for distinguishing colors. 
 They are concentrated in the small central, yellowish-colored
part of the retina known as the macula, in the center of this
area, known as the fovea centralis, measuring 0.3 mm
across and is devoid of rods.
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Cones
BGR
There are three types of cones:
 Red cones, accounting for 64% of the
total, also known as L-cones (sensitive
to long-wave light, which is red).
 Green cones, accounting for 32% of
the total, also known as M-cones
(sensitive to medium-wave light, which
is green).
 Blue cones, accounting for 2 – 7% of
the total, also known as S-cones
(sensitive to short-wave light, which is
blue).
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The macula lutea can be seen through the ophthalmoscope. In the
center of the macula lutea lies a zone of pure cones—the fovea.

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RETINA

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Pupillary Muscles
 Two sets of muscles in the iris control the size of the pupil: sphincter
and dilator papillae.
 The sphincter papillae are supplied by the parasympathetic nervous
system via the ciliary nerves, the fibers of which run together with
nerve III. Transmission by this pathway is cholinergic.
 The dilator papillae are supplied by the sympathetic nervous system
via the superior cervical ganglion. Neurotransmission in this
pathway is alpha-adrenergic via the superior cervical ganglion

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Optic nerve
 It’s a tract of brain and grows as an outgrowth of the
diencephalon during embryonic life.
 The optic nerve is not a true peripheral (cranial) nerve.
 It presents the following unique features:
 It is made of second-order sensory neurons.
 Its fibres are myelinated by oligodendrocytes.
 It’s encircled by meninges.
 Its fibres cannot regenerate if cut/damaged.
Central nervous system (CNS) axons do not spontaneously regenerate after injury in
adult mammals. In contrast, peripheral nervous system (PNS) axons readily regenerate,
allowing recovery of function after peripheral nerve damage 14
Optic nerve Course
 Optic Nerve
 The axons from the ganglion
cells traverse the inner surface
of the retina to the optic disc,
where they form the optic nerve,
which runs for about 3 cm before
entering the optic foramen.

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Optic Chiasma
 The optic chiasma is situated
at the junction of the anterior
wall and floor of the third
ventricle.
 Its anterolateral angles are
continuous with the optic
nerves, and the posterolateral
angles are continuous with the
optic tracts.

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 Optic Chiasma
 In the chiasma, the fibers from the
nasal (medial) half of each retina,
including the nasal half of the macula,
cross the midline and enter the optic
tract of the opposite side, while the
fibers from the temporal (lateral) half
of each retina, including the temporal
half of the macula, pass posteriorly in
the optic tract of the same side.

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 Intracranial (The Visual Pathway)
 Within the middle cranial fossa, the
optic nerves from each eye unite at
the optic chiasm.
 At the chiasm: nasal (medial) half
of each retina cross over to the
contralateral optic tract,
 while fibres from the temporal
(lateral) halves remain ipsilateral

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Intracranial (The Visual Pathway)

 Left optic tract – contains

fibres from the left temporal
(lateral) retina, and the right
nasal (medial) retina.
 Right optic tract – contains
fibres from the right temporal
retina, and the left nasal
retina.

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 Optic Tract
 The optic tract emerges from the optic
chiasma and passes posterolaterally
around the cerebral peduncle.
 Most of the fibers now terminate by
synapsing with nerve cells in the lateral
geniculate body, which is a small
projection from the posterior part of the
thalamus.
 A few of the fibers pass to the pretectal
nucleus and the superior colliculus of
the midbrain and are concerned with
light reflexes.
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Intracranial (The
Visual Pathway)
 Each optic tract travels to its
corresponding cerebral
hemisphere to reach
the lateral geniculate
nucleus (LGN), a relay
system located in the
thalamus; the fibres synapse
here.

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Lateral Geniculate Body
 The lateral geniculate body is a
small, oval swelling projecting
from the pulvinar of the thalamus.
 It consists of six layers of cells, on
which synapse the axons of the
optic tract.
 The axons of the nerve cells within
the geniculate body leave it to form
the optic radiation.

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 Lateral Geniculate Body
 A nucleus in the thalamus that
receives visual information from
the retina and sends it to
the visual cortex for processing.
 The LGB exhibits a layered
structure. There are two
magnocellular layers, and
four parvocellular layers.

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Lateral Geniculate Body
 Magnocellular cells: AKA M-cells. Magnocellular cells make
up the magnocellular layers of the LGB. They are relatively
large cells that display specialization in detecting aspects of
movement, such as the location, speed, and direction of a
moving object.
 Parvocellular cells: AKA P-cells. Parvocellular cells make
up the parvocellular layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus.
They are relatively small compared to the magnocellular
cells and are important for spatial resolution, visual acuity,
and the detailed analysis of shape, size, and color.  25
Optic Radiation
 The fibers of the optic radiation are the axons of the nerve cells
of the lateral geniculate body.
 The tract passes posteriorly through the retrolenticular part of the
internal capsule and terminates in the visual cortex (area 17),
which occupies the upper and lower lips of the calcarine sulcus on
the medial surface of the cerebral hemisphere
 The visual association cortex (areas 18 and 19) is responsible
for recognition of objects and perception of color.

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 Optic radiation
 Axons from the LGN carry visual
information via a pathway known as
the optic radiation. The pathway
itself can be divided into:
 Upper optic radiation – carries
fibres from the superior retinal
quadrants (corresponding to the
inferior visual field quadrants). It
travels through the parietal lobe to
reach the visual cortex.
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Intracranial (The
Visual Pathway)
 Lower optic radiation – carries
fibres from the inferior retinal
quadrants (corresponding to the
superior visual field
quadrants). It travels through
the temporal lobe, via a
pathway known as Meyers’
loop, to reach the visual cortex.

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 Binocular Vision vs monocular vision
 The humans and some other predators
eyes are positioned on the front of our
heads. This gives binocular vision,
where our two eyes work.
 Some others, particularly prey like
rabbits and mice, have eyes positioned
on either side of their heads. These
animals have monocular vision, where
the information coming from each eye is
different, and there is little to no
overlap between the visual fields of
the two eyes.
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Binocular Vision vs monocular vision

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Neurons of the Visual Pathway and
Binocular Vision
 In binocular vision, the right and left
fields of vision are projected on
portions of both retinae.
 The image of an object in the right field
of vision is projected on the nasal half
of the right retina and the temporal half
of the left retina.
 In the optic chiasma, the axons from
these two retinal halves are
combined to form the left optic tract.
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Neurons of the Visual Pathway and
Binocular Vision
 The lateral geniculate body
neurons now project the
complete right field of vision
on the visual cortex of the left
hemisphere and the left visual
field on the visual cortex of the
right hemisphere.

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Visual Reflexes
 Direct and Consensual Light Reflexes
 The pupillary light reflex requires CN II, CN III, and central
brain stem connections.
 If a light is shone into one eye, the pupils of both eyes normally
constrict. The constriction of the pupil on which the light is
shone is called the direct light reflex; the constriction of the
opposite pupil, even though no light fell on that eye, is called
the consensual light reflex

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Direct and Consensual
Light Reflexes
 The afferent impulses travel
through the optic nerve, optic
chiasma, and optic tract.
 Here, a small number of fibers
leave the optic tract and
synapse on nerve cells in the
pretectal nucleus, which lies
close to the superior colliculus.

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  The impulses are passed by axons
of the pretectal nerve cells to the
parasympathetic nuclei (Edinger-
Westphal nuclei) of the third cranial
nerve on both sides.
 Here, the fibers synapse and the
parasympathetic nerves travel
through the third cranial nerve to
the ciliary ganglion in the orbit

short ciliary nerves and ciliary ganglion

constrictor pupillae muscle third cranial nerve

optic optic pretectal Edinger-Westphal

afferent impulses optic nerve 35
chiasma tract nucleus nuclei
 Finally, postganglionic parasympathetic
fibers pass through the short ciliary
nerves to the eyeball and the constrictor
pupillae muscle of the iris.
 Both pupils constrict in the consensual
light reflex because the pretectal
nucleus sends fibers to the
parasympathetic nuclei on both sides
of the midbrain.
 The fibers that cross the median plane
do so close to the cerebral aqueduct in
the posterior commissure.
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 Accommodation Reflex
 Needed when the eyes are directed
from a distant to a near object.
 Contraction of the medial recti brings
about convergence of the ocular axes
 The lens thickens to increase its
refractive power by contraction of the
ciliary muscle; and the
 Pupils constrict to restrict the light waves
to the thickest central part of the lens.

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38
 Accommodation
Reflex
 The afferent impulses travel
through the optic nerve,
the optic chiasma, the
optic tract, the lateral
geniculate body, and the
optic radiation to the
visual cortex.
 The visual cortex is
connected to the eye field
of the frontal cortex.
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 Accommodation Reflex
 Cortical fibers descend through
the internal capsule to the
oculomotor nuclei in the
midbrain.
 The oculomotor nerve travels to
the medial recti muscles.
 Some of the descending cortical
fibers synapse with the
parasympathetic nuclei
(Edinger-Westphal nuclei) of the
third cranial nerve on both sides.
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 Corneal Reflex
 Light touching of the cornea or
conjunctiva results in blinking of
the eyelids.
 Afferent impulses from the cornea
or conjunctiva travel through the
ophthalmic division of the
trigeminal nerve (nasocilliary
nerve) to the sensory nucleus
of the trigeminal nerve.

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 Corneal Reflex
 Internuncial neurons connect
with the motor nucleus of the
facial nerve on both sides
through the medial longitudinal CN VII
fasciculus.
 The facial nerve and its
branches supply the orbicularis
oculi muscle, which causes medial
closure of the eyelids. longitudinal
fasciculus

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The visual field
 The visual field refers to the total area in which objects
can be seen in the side (peripheral) vision as you focus
your eyes on a central point.
 The normal (monocular) human visual field extends to
approximately 60 degrees nasally (toward the nose, or
inward) from the vertical meridian in each eye, to 100
degrees temporally (away from the nose, or outwards)
from the vertical meridian, and approximately 70 degrees
above and 80 below the horizontal meridian 43
The visual field

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The visual field
 Visual field loss may occur due to disease or disorders of
the eye, optic nerve, or brain. Classically, there are four
types of visual field defects:
 Altitudinalfield defects, loss of vision above or below the
horizontal – associated with ocular abnormalities
 Bitemporal hemianopia, loss of vision at the sides
 Central scotoma, loss of central vision
 Homonymous hemianopia, loss at one side of the visual field
for both eyes – defect located behind optic chiasm 
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The visual field
1

1. Paris as seen with full visual

fields
2. Paris as seen with bitemporal
hemianopsia 2

3. Paris as seen with binasal

hemianopsia

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 The visual field 1

1. Paris as seen with (left fields both

eyes) left homonymous
hemianopsia
2
2. Paris as seen with (right fields both
eyes) right homonymous
hemianopsia
3. Scotoma: a partial loss of vision or
blind spot in an otherwise normal 3

visual field

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 Visual Acuity
 Acuteness or clearness of vision
 It is the degree to which the details and contours of objects
are perceived
 It is defined in terms of the minimum separable (shortest)
distance by which two lines can be separated and still be
perceived as two lines
 Thus the minimum separable in a normal individual
corresponds to a visual angle of about 1 minute (Acuity
10/10)
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 Clinically Snellen’s
charts are used to
determine visual
acuity

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Visual Acuity
 Normal vision relies on the following:
 Both eyes in alignment (extraocular muscles functioning) •
 Clear cornea •
 Clear lens of the eye •
 Clear ocular media (aqueous and vitreous) •
 Intact retina, optic nerve, visual pathway

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Lesions of the visual pathway
 Injuries to different parts of the visual pathway can produce various
kinds of defects.
 Loss of vision in one half (right or left) of the visual field is
called hemianopia.
 If the same half of the visual field is lost in both eyes the defect is
said to be homonymous (e.g. left nasal and temporal fields) and
if different halves are lost the defect is said to be heteronymous
(e.g. Right and left Temporal fields).
 Note that the hemianopia is named in relation to the visual
field and not to the retina.
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Lesions of the visual
pathway
 Injury to the optic nerve will
obviously produce total
blindness in the eye
concerned (1).
 Damage to the central part of
the optic chiasma interrupts
the crossing fibres derived
from the nasal halves of the
two retinae resulting in
bitemporal heteronymous
hemianopia. (2) 52
Lesions of the visual pathway
 Injury to the lateral part of
chiasma will produce nasal
hemianopia. in the eye
concerned (3).
 Injury to the optic tract (4)
causes Homonymous
hemianopsia because the
right half of the brain has
visual pathways for the left
hemi-field of both eyes. Same
thing occurs in occipital lobe
injury (7).
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Homonymous inferior/superior
quadrantanopia
 It can be associated with a
lesion of an optic radiation
(5&6).
 Can also be caused by
lesions in the temporal and
parietal lobes, it is most
commonly associated with
lesions in the occipital lobe

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Lesions of the visual pathway (Macular
sparing)
 Macular sparing is visual field loss that preserves vision
in the center of the visual field, otherwise known as
the macula.

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 Lesions of the visual pathway
 The macular regions of the cortex
have a double vascular supply from
the middle cerebral artery (MCA)
and the posterior cerebral artery
(PCA).
 If there is damage to one vascular
pathway, like in the case of a MCA or
PCA stroke, there is still another blood
supply that the macular portions of the
visual cortex can rely on.
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