Journal of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology
Open Access

Abstract

Conclusive Evidence for Human Transneuronal Retrograde Degeneration in the Visual System

Holly Bridge and Gordon T. Plant

For several decades there was controversy concerning the existence of transneuronal retrograde degeneration in the human visual system in spite of a substantial body of data indicating this degeneration in certain species of nonhuman primate. Over the past few years, however, compelling evidence both from human magnetic resonance imaging and optical coherence tomography has shown conclusively transneuronal retrograde degeneration in both the white matter of the optic tract and in the ganglion cells of the retina. In this review the evidence for primate degeneration and degeneration in non-visual human neural systems are discussed before the presentation of the recent human data.