Certified Ophthalmic Assistant Practice Exam

The physiologic blind spot is associated with which part of the eye?

1. Pupil

2. Lens

3. Optic nerve

4. Cornea

The correct answer is: Optic nerve

The physiologic blind spot is specifically associated with the optic nerve. This phenomenon occurs in an area of the retina where the optic nerve fibers exit the eye, leaving a small gap in the visual field without photoreceptors (rods and cones). Consequently, this gap creates a blind spot in our field of vision, which is termed “physiologic” because it is a normal characteristic of the eye’s anatomy. The optic nerve carries visual information from the retina to the brain, but the point at which it exits the retina does not have any light-sensitive cells, resulting in the inability to perceive any light that may be present at that specific location in the visual field. This is a fundamental aspect of ocular anatomy and physiology, explaining why the optic nerve is correctly linked to the physiologic blind spot.