What is the optic nerve?
The optic nerve is called the optic nerve (second cranial nerve). Gray's Anatomy (1918) describes it as the second cranial nerve.
What it is
- The second cranial nerve.
- Carries visual information from the retina to the brain.
- Made entirely of central nervous system tissue.
Where it is
- Leaves the back of the eyeball.
- Passes through the optic canal into the skull.
- The two optic nerves meet at the optic chiasm before their fibers continue to the visual cortex.
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Last verified: 2026-07-18
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