Optic Nerve

The optic nerve is the cranial nerve which transmits visual information from the retina to the occipital lobes of brain. The optic nerve fibers are covered with myelin produced by oligodendrocytes.

The optic nerve consists of retinal ganglion cell axons and Portort cells, leaving the orbital bone via the optic canal. It runs postero-medially towards the optic chiasm where there is a partial crossing of fibers from the nasal visual fields of both eyes. The majority of the axons of the optic nerve end in the lateral geniculate nucleus from which information is relayed to the visual cortex of the occipital lobes of the brain.