What is the central visual pathway from the retina to the visual cortex?

The central visual pathway from the retina to the visual cortex primarily includes the optic nerve, optic chiasm, and lateral geniculate nucleus. Understanding this pathway begins at the retina, where light is converted into neural signals by photoreceptors. The signals are then transmitted to retinal ganglion cells, whose axons form the optic nerve.

As the optic nerve exits the eye, it travels towards the optic chiasm, where the pathway partially crosses. This crossing allows visual information from the right visual field of both eyes to be processed in the left hemisphere of the brain, and vice versa for the left visual field. After this important processing step at the optic chiasm, the signals continue along the optic tract, heading toward the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) located in the thalamus.

The LGN serves as the primary relay station for visual information, where it organizes and processes the input before transmitting the signals to the primary visual cortex (V1) in the occipital lobe. This organization is crucial for various visual processing functions, such as color, motion, and spatial awareness.

Other options, while related to visual processing, do not accurately represent the complete pathway from the retina to the visual cortex. They include