What Are Visual Tracts?
The neural fiber bundles, located within the brain, that carry visual information from the optic chiasm posteriorly to the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus.
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Decussation at Chiasm
Fibers from the nasal (medial) side of each retina cross over (decussate) at the optic chiasm. Therefore, each visual tract carries information representing the opposite half of the visual field.
Right Visual Tract
The right visual tract carries information from the right half of both retinas, which corresponds to the entire left visual field.
Importance in Neurology
Damage to a visual tract (e.g., from a tumor or stroke) results in a complete loss of vision in the entire contralateral (opposite) visual field, a condition called homonymous hemianopsia.
What is the pathway after the LGN?
After the LGN, the visual information travels via the optic radiations to the visual cortex (V1) in the occipital lobe.
Are the optic nerves part of the tracts?
No. The optic nerve (Cranial Nerve II) is the pathway from the retina to the chiasm. The visual tract is the pathway from the chiasm to the LGN.
Why do they only carry half of the visual field?
The brain processes visual information contralaterally. The crossing at the chiasm ensures that the left brain hemisphere processes the entire right visual field, and vice versa.