How to Use optic nerve in a Sentence

optic nerve

noun
  • Cells in the retina send signals to the brain via the optic nerve.
    — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5 Mar. 2018
  • The ganglion cells then send the signals via the optic nerve to the brain.
    — Amy Dockser Marcus, WSJ, 24 May 2021
  • Each of your eyes has a small blind spot where the optic nerve passes through the retina.
    — sandiegouniontribune.com, 20 Sep. 2017
  • But their eyes still have the ganglion cells that route these signals to the brain via the optic nerve.
    — Jocelyn Kaiser, Science | AAAS, 24 May 2021
  • The damage to your optic nerve is caused by a buildup of fluid inside your eye.
    — Meghan Rabbitt, Good Housekeeping, 14 Oct. 2021
  • There was damage to my optic nerve, but no lesions were found anywhere else.
    — Michelle Maves, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Oct. 2025
  • Doctors revived him, but damage to his optic nerve left him blind.
    — Margalit Fox, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2020
  • The fluid and pressure built up and crushed his optic nerves, leaving him blind.
    — Priority Health, Detroit Free Press, 2 Jan. 2018
  • The main sign seen in the eyes is optic nerve swelling, also called a papilledema headache.
    — Elizabeth Yuko, Flow Space, 27 May 2025
  • There is squirting blood, a loose eye still attached to an optic nerve, and so much squelching.
    — Kelsea Stahler, refinery29.com, 16 Mar. 2020
  • Her optic nerve was damaged, and the pain was unbearable.
    — Rick Mauch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Oct. 2025
  • The optic nerve is located at the back of the eye and sends visual messages to the brain.
    — Mark Gurarie, Health, 3 Oct. 2024
  • Those signals are sent by the optic nerve to the brain to create the image a person sees.
    — Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 31 Mar. 2024
  • When light hits the rod and cone cells, nerve impulses are triggered and sent to the brain through the optic nerve.
    — Svenja Lohner, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2020
  • The optic nerve seems to then compress it down to about 100 million bits/sec.
    — Michael Irving, New Atlas, 18 Dec. 2024
  • Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that cause optic nerve damage.
    — Maxine Lipner, Verywell Health, 10 Mar. 2025
  • But in this woman, the optic nerve on both sides looked completely normal.
    — Lisa Sanders, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2020
  • Its job is to bend or refract light to reach your retina, which then sends messages to your brain through the optic nerve.
    — Vanessa Caceres, Verywell Health, 11 Sep. 2024
  • The tumor had broken through the lining of my brain and surrounded my optic nerves.
    — David Freyne, Time, 7 Dec. 2025
  • In glaucoma, the optic nerve gets damaged, often by a buildup of pressure in the eye.
    — Kelly Servick, Science | AAAS, 2 Dec. 2020
  • Her cancer had spread from her left eye to her right optic nerve and spine, and around her brain and spinal cord, the legal complaint says.
    — Daniel Chang, miamiherald, 21 May 2018
  • In humans and most vertebrates the optic nerve fibers pass through the retina and out of the back of the eyeball.
    — Svenja Lohner, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2020
  • The cells converted that light into nerve signals that traveled to the back of his brain through an optic nerve.
    — Manasee Wagh, Popular Mechanics, 20 Apr. 2022
  • Light still streams into the eye through the unaffected lens, and that light could still make its way to the brain via the optic nerve.
    — Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 24 May 2021
  • This habit can increase the risk of AMD and cataracts and damage the optic nerve.
    — Cristina Mutchler, Verywell Health, 11 Oct. 2024
  • This habit can increase the risk of AMD and cataracts and damage the optic nerve.
    — Cristina Mutchler, Verywell Health, 11 July 2024
  • Loss of cells on the optic nerve eventually results in vision loss.
    — Carisa Brewster, Verywell Health, 14 Jan. 2025
  • Her left eye socket, roof of her mouth, optic nerves, nose and upper lip were all profoundly damaged.
    — Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 24 June 2026
  • The optic nerve was still enormously swollen despite the five-day course of IV steroids.
    — Katie Gutierrez, TIME, 19 Sep. 2024
  • These cells convert light into an electrical signal that travels to the brain via the optic nerve.
    — Maya Wei-Haas, Smithsonian, 19 Oct. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'optic nerve.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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