Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) have shown for the first time that when one optic nerve in the eye is damaged, as in glaucoma, the opposite optic nerve comes to the rescue by sharing its metabolic energy.
In doing so, however, the undamaged optic nerve becomes vulnerable to further metabolic stress, which could explain why the neurodegeneration observed in this and other diseases spreads between brain regions.
“This is the first demonstration of metabolic resources being shared between the two eyes and optic nerves,” said David Calkins, Ph.D., Vice Chair of the Department…
