Medical Definition of Cranial nerve II
1.
The optic nerve. The nerve carrying impulses for the sense of sight.
Projection from the vertebrate retina to the midbrain. Embryologically, a CNS tract rather than a peripheral nerve. Popular experimental preparation for studies of regeneration of retino tectal projections in lower vertebrates and also for studies of glial cell lineage in CNS.
Synonym: cranial nerve II.
This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
(11 Mar 2008)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Cranial Nerve II
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