Good video on understanding what a Visual Field is exactly.

Understanding What is a Visual Field

EyeMDs and Neurologist use visual fields to give us information about the nerves of the eye and the entire visual pathway. We can sometimes detect subtle nerve or brain changes or damage before a patient has any symptoms.

Understanding what your field of vision is exactly can be difficult to explain clearly or in the limited time one has with patients.


Below is a great video on what the visual field is and how it relates to the eye, the optic nerve, and it's connection to the brain.

The later part about the LGN is likely more information than most patients need to understand.

http://www.sumanasinc.com/webcontent/animations/content/visualpathways.html



More information:

Great article: http://www.ajnr.org/content/28/1/3/T1.expansion.html

Localization of field defects and disorders of higher cortical visual function

Field Defect or Syndrome	Localization
Unilateral central scotoma	Optic nerve
Bitemporal hemianopsia	Chiasm
Junctional defect (ipsilateral central scotoma and a contralateral superior temporal field cut)	Anterior chiasm
Central temporal scotomas	Posterior chiasm
Incongruous homonymous hemianopsia, afferent pupillary defect, and bow-tie atrophy	Optic tract
Homonymous sectoranopia	Lateral geniculate nucleus
Incongruous homonymous hemianopsia	Lateral geniculate nucleus
Homonymous upper quadrant defect “pie in the sky”	Temporal lobe
Homonymous defect, denser inferiorly	Parietal lobe
Gerstmann syndrome and a homonymous defect, denser inferiorly	Parietal lobe
Complete homonymous hemianopsia	Not well-localized
Homonymous upper quadrantanopsia with macular sparing	Occipital lobe (lower bank)
Homonymous lower quadrantanopsia with macular sparing	Occipital lobe (upper bank)
Isolated homonymous defect (macular sparing) without other neurologic findings	Occipital lobe
Anton syndrome (cortical blindness)	Bilateral occipital lobe lesions
Balint syndrome	Bilateral occipitoparietal lesions
Alexia without agraphia	Left occipital lobe and angular gyrus
Central achromatopsia	Bilateral occipito-temporal lesions