Vision Science and Eye

The Visual System and the Eye

The visual system is the part of the central nervous system that is required for comprehending visual details like receiving, processing and interpreting visual information to build a representation of the surrounding visual environment. The visual system involves the eyes, connecting pathways through to the visual cortex, optic nerve, optic chiasm, optic tract, ganglion cells and other parts of the brain. The neural signals initially processed by the retina travel via the axons of the ganglion cells through the optic nerves. Optic nerves from both eyes cross over at the optic chiasm and split based on the visual field and end up in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). From the LGN, the signals continue to the primary visual cortex of the brain for the processing of the visual image.