Optic Nerve

The bundle of nerve cells, or "cable," that transmits signals from the retina to the visual processing center of the brain.

The optic nerve is the "cable" that receives the light detection signals from other retinal cells (photoreceptors initially detect the photons of light) and transports them to the part of the brain called the visual cortex where they are processed. A person doesn't actually "see" until their visual cortex processes the signals. If the eye is a digital camera, consider this to be like the cable used to download the images from the camera onto a computer.