The limbic system, named aIter the Latin word limbus Ior edge, is the innermost part oI the

brain, wrapped around the core ventricles. It is Iilled with cerebrospinal Iluid and various clumps
oI white matter, which does not play much oI a role in cognition.
The limbic system is called the "old mammalian system" or the "mammalian brain" in the
popular triune brain model, which splits the brain into three parts depending on their location and
Iunctions. The other parts are the reptilian brain or the brain stem, and the cerebral cortex or the
neocortex. These are responsible Ior "lower" and "higher" behavior respectively.
The limbic system's components are the amygdala, the hippocampus, the cingulate gyrus,
Iornicate gyrus, hypothalamus, mammillary body, epithalamus, nucleus accumbens (the brain's
Iamed "pleasure center"), orbitoIrontal cortex, parahippocampal gyrus, and the thalamus. Each
plays an important role in making things run smoothly in the brain.
The limbic system is the home oI emotions, motivation, the regulation oI memories, the interIace
between emotional states and memories oI physical stimuli, physiological autonomic regulators,
hormones, "Iight or Ilight" responses, sexual arousal, circadian rhythms, and some decision
systems. The limbic system is what gets "duped" when people get addicted to hard drugs.
Because the addiction happens in the "lower," "preconscious" portion oI the brain, we cannot
rationally consider its eIIects, and thereIore recovery and relapse avoidance can be diIIicult. Rats
given switches connected to electrodes which electrically stimulate their nucleus accumbens will
continue pressing the switch at the exclusion oI all else, including Iood or sex.
n top oI the limbic system is the cerebral cortex, the "thinking brain." The thalamus acts as a
liaison between the two. The cortex evolved dependent on the limbic system, which was present
beIore it. Every beneIicial adaptation in the neocortex had to "play nice" and interoperate
eIIiciently with the limbic system to justiIy its own retention through improving the overall
Iitness oI the organism. The pineal gland, a Iamous part oI the limbic system located in the
epithalamus, is a rare example oI a vestigal brain organ, which was much larger and
diIIerentiated in an earlier part oI our evolutionary history.
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