01:146:245 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Pupillary Light Reflex, Lateral Geniculate Nucleus, Visual Cortex

• School: Rutgers University
• Department: Cell Biology and Neuroscience
• Course: 01:146:245
• Professor: Professor Wilhelms

Document Summary

~primary visual pathway from retina to dorsal laterate geniculate nucleus to primary visual cortex. ~there"s also parallel processing that projects to a bunch of different areas of cortex. ~optic disk where the axons of ganglion cells exit and go deep into the brain. ~optic disk is on nasal side of eye. ~all the ganglion axons bundles together = optic nerve. ~optic disk has no photoreceptors, so it"s a blind spot. ~optic disk is also where arteries enter and veins leave. ~axons in optic nerve go straight to optic chiasm. ~decussation 60% of axons cross lateral sides in chiasm, 40% stay on their lateral side. ~after passing chiasm, the ganglion axons form the optic tracts, one on each side. ~the optic tract has the fibers that ran straight and the ones that crossed over to that lateral side. ~through optic tract, they go on to the diencephalon and midbrain. Major target in diencephalon is dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus in thalamus.