Models of neural injury.

A variety of methods can be used experimentally to model neural injury, and thus study the process that represents the major pathophysiology underlying glaucomatous optic neuropathy. These methods vary in difficulty, relevance to human glaucoma, and time course. There is no perfect model, partly because our understanding of the glaucomas is still incomplete. Nonetheless, research into the mechanisms underlying the optic neuropathy of glaucoma (as well as possible new treatments) is advancing rapidly because of the availability of a wide variety of models of neural injury.