Scientists have insisted that blindness, which is a direct result of glaucoma, tends to begin with an injury which occurs in the brain, and not in the eye.

A group of researchers, led by David Calkins, who is the Director of Research at Vanderbilt University's Eye Institute, revealed that glaucoma, which is the biggest cause of irreversible blindness, first appears in the brain, and not in the eye, as is commonly believed.

The conclusion was reached at by the team after injecting rodents afflicted with glaucoma with a special fluoresceine, which tends to significantly light up parts in the middle of the brain, where the optic tract forms its first connections.

After extensive analysis, researchers found out that glaucoma's earliest sings and damages did not appear in the innermost light-sensitive membrane that covered the retina's back-up wall, but in the other end of the optic nerve, which is in the mid-brain.

"It's a very interesting study. It does have potentially profound implications for treatment, and even diagnosis, of glaucoma, if it holds true for humans", said researcher Darrell WuDunn, who is the Residency Program Director of the Department of Ophthalmology at Indiana University School of Medicine.