Central Visual Pathways - Visual Field Deficits

3 important questions on Central Visual Pathways - Visual Field Deficits

What symptoms can be obeserved after damaging of the retina/optic nerve? And what about the optic tract? And the optic chiasm?

Damage of the retina results in loss of vision in only one eye. Damage to the optic tract causes loss of the contralateral visual field. So if the left optic tract is damaged, there will be a loss of vision of the right visual field. Damage to the optic chiasm compromises the nasal retina ganglion cells. This leads to loss of vision in both eyes because the brain does not receive information of the nasal parts of the retina. Lateral vision is impaired.

Damage to the optic tract can cause homonymous hemianopia. Explain this condition.

Loss of vision of one side of the visual field. The nasal part of the retina of one eye and the temporal part of the retina of the other eye overlap and are both impaired.

What can be the cause of bitemporal hemianopsia and what is the result?

Damage of the optic chiasm can cause this. The nasal retina representation is impaired so no overlap of visual fields is possible. Vision is entirely monocular. The most lateral parts of the visual field only can be perceived by the nasal retina, so this is not perceivable with this condition.

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