Optic nerve is a nerve of sense for sight. This nerve is composed of medullated fibres devoid of neurilemma which are axons of the ganglion cells of retina. The fibres converge within the eyeball at the optic papilla, where they form the optic nerve.
- Then it pierces through the choroid and sclera, emerges from the inferio-lateral quadrant of the eye and passes backward and inward to the optic foramen.
- On entering the cranium the two nerves decussate at the base of the brain and form the optic chiasma or commissure.
- From the optic commissure, the optic tract passes into the lateral geniculate body and anterior quadrigeminal body.
- The sheath of the nerve is formed by the prolongation of the meninges of the brain.