The axons of the ganglion cells pass caudally in the optic nerve and optic tract to end in the lateral geniculate body in the thalamus (Figure 1). The fibers from each nasal hemiretina decussate in the optic chiasm. In the geniculate body, the fibers from the nasal half of one retina and the temporal half of the other synapse on the cells whose axons form the genic ulocalcarine tract. This tract passes to the occipital lobe of the cerebral cortex.
Fig1. Visual pathways. Transection of the pathways at the locations indicated by the letters causes the visual field defects shown in the diagrams on the right. The fibers from the nasal half of each retina decussate in the optic chiasm, so that the fibers in the optic tracts are those from the temporal half of one retina and the nasal half of the other. A lesion that interrupts one optic nerve causes blindness in that eye (A). A lesion in one optic tract causes blindness in half of the visual field (C) and is called homonymous (same side of both visual fields) hemianopia (half-blindness). Lesions affecting the optic chiasm destroy fibers from both nasal hemiretinas and produce a heteronymous (opposite sides of the visual fields) hemianopia (B). Occipital lesions may spare the fibers from the macula (as in D) because of the separation in the brain of these fibers from the others subserving vision.
Some ganglion cell axons bypass the LGN to project directly to the pretectal area; this pathway mediates the pupillary light reflex and eye movements. The frontal cortex is also concerned with eye movement, and especially its refinement. The bilateral frontal eye fields in this part of the cortex are concerned with control of saccades, and an area just anterior to these fields is concerned with vergence and the near response.
The brain areas activated by visual stimuli have been investigated in monkeys and humans by positron emission tomography (PET) and other imaging techniques. Activation occurs not only in the occipital lobe but also in parts of the inferior temporal cortex, the posteroinferior parietal cortex, portions of the frontal lobe, and the amygdala. The subcortical structures activated in addition to the lateral geniculate body include the superior colliculus, pulvinar, caudate nucleus, putamen, and claustrum.
The axons of retinal ganglion cells project a detailed spatial representation of the retina on the lateral geniculate body. Each geniculate body contains six well-defined layers (Figure 2). Layers 3–6 have small cells and are called parvocellular, whereas layers 1 and 2 have large cells and are called magnocellular. On each side, layers 1, 4, and 6 receive input from the contralateral eye, whereas layers 2, 3, and 5 receive input from the ipsilateral eye. In each layer, there is a precise point-for-point representation of the retina, and all six layers are in register so that along a line perpendicular to the layers, the receptive fields of the cells in each layer are almost identical. It is worth noting that only 10–20% of the input to the LGN comes from the retina. Major inputs also occur from the visual cortex and other brain regions. The feedback pathway from the visual cortex has been shown to be involved in visual processing related to the perception of orientation and motion.
Fig2. Ganglion cell projections from the right hemiretina of each eye to the right lateral geniculate body and from this nucleus to the right primary visual cortex. Note the six layers of the geniculate body. P ganglion cells project to layers 3–6, and M ganglion cells project to layers 1 and 2. The ipsilateral (I) and contralateral (C) eyes project to alternate layers. Not shown are the interlaminar area cells, which project via a separate component of the P pathway to blobs in the visual cortex. (Modified with permission from Kandel ER, Schwartz JH, Jessell TM [editors]: Principles of Neural Science, 4th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2000.)
There are several types of retinal ganglion cells. These include large ganglion cells (magno, or M cells), which add responses from different kinds of cones and are concerned with movement and stereopsis. Another type is the small ganglion cells (parvo, or P cells), which subtract input from one type of cone from input from another and are concerned with color, texture, and shape. The M ganglion cells project to the magnocellular portion of the lateral geniculate, whereas the P ganglion cells project to the parvocellular portion. From the LGN, a magnocellular pathway and a parvocellular path way project to the visual cortex. The magnocellular pathway, from layers 1 and 2, carries signals for detection of movement, depth, and flicker. The parvocellular pathway, from layers 3–6, carries signals for color vision, texture, shape, and fine detail. The small-field bistratified ganglion cells may be involved in color vision and carry the short (blue) wavelength information to the intralaminar zones of the LGN.
Cells in the interlaminar region of the LGN also receive input from P ganglion cells, probably via dendrites of inter laminar cells that penetrate the parvocellular layers. They project via a separate component of the P pathway to the blobs in the visual cortex.
