FIGURE 3.5 Neural Pathways from Eye to Brain The bundled axons of the ganglion cells form the optic nerve, which exits the retina at the optic disk. The optic nerves from the left and right eyes meet at the optic chiasm, then split apart. One set of nerve fibers crosses over and projects to the opposite side of the brain, and another set of nerve fibers continues along the same side of the brain. Most of the nerve fibers travel to the thalamus and then on to the visual cortex of the occipital lobe.