Neuroanatomy

A second afferent pathway from the entorhinal cortex
to the hippocampal formation is through the alvear pathway.
Axons in the alvear pathway project directly on to CA1 and
CA3 of the hippocampus (eFig. 9.104B). Similar to the
perforant pathway, axons leaving the alvear pathway primar-
ily originate from CA1 and CA3, which then project to the
subiculum.
Efferent axons leaving the hippocampal formation primar-
ily exit from the subiculum and form the fornix (Latin for
“arch”), a white matter structure that arches over the
ventricular system (eFig. 9.95). The fornix begins with axons
exiting the hippocampus to form the alveus along the
ventricular surface of the hippocampus. As the axons come
together medially, they form a bundle referred to as the
fimbria of the fornix. The fornix then emerges from the hip-
pocampal formation and curves under the corpus callosum
before coursing medially to run adjacent to the midline (eFig.
9.105). At the anterior commissure, the fornix divides into
a precommissural fornix and postcommissural fornix to
reach the nucleus accumbens, septal nuclei, medial frontal
cortex, mammillary nucleus, ventromedial nucleus of the
hypothalamus, and anterior nucleus of the dorsal thalamus
(eFig. 9.95).
Through this section we have described a collection of
anatomical structures and defined their connections with
other areas of the brain and brainstem without exploring

Head of caudate nucleus Anterior horn of Crus of fornix Thalamus

lateral ventricle

A B

Inferior horn of lateral ventricle Choroid plexus Hippocampus Fimbria

eFig. 9.105  Hippocampus–fimbria–fornix system. Superior view of brain. The cerebral cortex, corpus callosum, and surrounding white matter
have been removed to expose the lateral ventricle. A. Choroid plexus in the lateral ventricle. B. choroid plexus removed. (From Crossman A.
e80 Neuroanatomy. 5th ed., Fig. 16.15. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2015.)

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