Last edited: 8/12/2021

1. LIMBIC SYSTEM ANATOMY & FUNCTION

Neurology | Limbic System Anatomy & Function Medical Editor: Gerard Jude Loyola

OUTLINE (5) Thalamus

Involved nuclei:
I) ANATOMY OF THE LIMBIC SYSTEM o Anterior nucleus
II) FUNCTIONS OF THE LIMBIC SYSTEM
 Component of Papez circuit, which is involved in
III) CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
memory
IV) REVIEW QUESTIONS
V) REFERENCES o Mediodorsal nucleus
 Information from amygdala project to the
mediodorsal nucleus and then to the prefrontal
I) ANATOMY OF THE LIMBIC SYSTEM
cortex
Group of gray and white matter located in the deeper  Involved in emotions and behavior
cerebrum involved in olfaction, emotional response,
(6) Septal Area and Habenula
behavior and memory
Septal area
(A) COMPONENTS OF THE LIMBIC SYSTEM o Sits in the septum pellucidum
Habenula
o Part of the epithalamus
o Located behind the thalamus
Involved in the reward pathway and emotional responses

(B) WHITE MATTER TRACTS OF THE LIMBIC

SYSTEM
(1) Fornix

Figure 1. Sagittal section of the medial limbic system. Label:

Limbic lobe (green), hippocampal formation (pink), amygdala
(purple), hypothalamus (red), thalamus (blue), septal area
(turquoise), habenula (orange). Acronyms: CG – cingulate
gyrus, PHG – parahippocampal gyrus.

Figure 2. Fornix (pink) connecting the hippocampus to the

(1) Limbic lobe septal area and the hypothalamus.
Cingulate gyrus White matter tract from the hippocampus to the septal
o Involved in memory, emotional processing, and area and mammillary bodies (hypothalamus)
autonomic nervous system Involved in the memory pathways
Parahippocampal gyrus (2) Stria Terminalis and Ventral Amygdalofugal
o Located at the temporal lobe Pathway
o Involved in memory processing
(2) Hippocampal formation
Composed of three structures:
o Dentate gyrus
 Where afferent information come into the
hippocampus
Figure 3. Stria terminalis and ventral amygdalofugal pathway
o Subiculum
connecting the amygdala and the septal area, hypothalamus
 Where efferent information leave and thalamus.
o Hippocampus proper
 Where efferent information leave Stria terminalis
o White matter tract from the amygdala projecting
Involved in memory processing dorsally then underneath the corpus callosum, and
(3) Amygdala terminates at the septal area and the hypothalamus

Involved in emotions, behavior and olfaction Ventral amygdalofugal pathway

Two nuclei: o White matter tract projecting ventrally and terminates
o Corticomedial nuclear group at the septal area, hypothalamus and the medial
 Involved in olfaction dorsal nucleus of the thalamus
o Basolateral nuclear group (3) Stria Medullaris Thalami and Mammilothalamic
 Involved in emotions and behavior Tract
(4) Hypothalamus
Involved nuclei:
o Mammillary bodies
o Autonomic nervous system
 Posterior hypothalamic nuclei (sympathetic) and
anterior hypothalamic nuclei (parasympathetic) Figure 4. Stria medullaris thalami (blue arrow) and the
mammillothalamic tract (orange arrow).

LIMBIC SYSTEM ANATOMY & FUNCTION NEURO PHYSIOLOGY: Note #1. 1 of 4

 Stria medullaris thalami Olfactory bulb sends action potentials to the olfactory
o Projection from the septal area to the habenula tracts
Mammillothalamic tract Olfactory tracts then bifurcate to the lateral olfactory striae
o Projection from the mammillary bodies to the anterior o Medial olfactory striae goes to the orbitofrontal cortex
nucleus of the thalamus Lateral olfactory striae sends these to the
parahippocampal gyrus and amygdala
(4) Medial Forebrain Bundle
Parahippocampal gyrus
o Involved in the memory of smells
 Storing the smells in our memory
Amygdala
o Involved in emotions related to the smell

(B) MEMORY AND LEARNING

Figure 5. Medial forebrain bundle connecting the prefrontal

cortex, hypothalamus, and reticular formation.
Two-way tract from the prefrontal cortex, runs through the
lateral hypothalamus and terminates at the reticular
formation of the brainstem
Recall: Prefrontal cortex
o Involved in personality, behavior and some of
emotions and memory
(5) Ventral Tegmental Area

Figure 8. Papez circuit.

Figure 6. The mammillotegmental tract and mammillary
peduncles connecting the hypothalamus and the ventral
tegmental area.
Mammillotegmental tract
o Unidirectional tract starting from the mammillary
bodies to the ventral tegmental area
Mammillary peduncles
o Tract starting from the ventral tegmental area to the
mammillary bodies
Ventral tegmental area
Dopaminergic area of the midbrain
One of the intrinsic nuclei of the basal ganglia [Martin, 2021]
Papez Circuit
Important in memory and learning
(i) Memory Processing
Starts with the subiculum of the hippocampus →
mammillary bodies via the fornix → anterior nucleus of
the thalamus via the mammillothalamic tract → cingulate
gyrus → parahippocampal gyrus → dentate gyrus via the
entorhinal cortex (Figure 8)
Recall: Hippocampal formation
Dentate gyrus – receiving part of the hippocampus
Subiculum and hippocampus proper – projecting or
sending part of the hippocampus

(ii) Decision-Making
II) FUNCTIONS OF THE LIMBIC SYSTEM Prefrontal cortex
o Involved in thought processes, decision making,
(A) OLFACTION reasoning and judgment
 “If you’re going to make a decision, shouldn’t you
consult your memory to make sure that this is the
right decision if you made that decision in the
past.”
From the cingulate gyrus → prefrontal cortex (Figure 9)
o Purpose is to have the memory get involved in
decision-making

Figure 7. Processing of smell stimulus from the olfactory bulb to

the limbic system.

Figure 9. (Light blue dashed box) Connection of the cingulate

Recall: Pathway for olfaction
gyrus and the prefrontal cortex.
Smell stimulus received by the olfactory epithelial cells →
olfactory nerves → olfactory bulb

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 (C) EMOTIONAL RESPONSES AND BEHAVIOR
Table 1. Autonomic responses.
(1) Emotional Responses Organ Response Remarks
Emotional responses “I’m gonna need a lot of
o Fear energy to fuel my
o Anger Liver ↑glucose muscles so I can run
o Rage fast”
o Sadness
“To have enough blood
Heart ↑heart rate (HR) in the circulation so I can
run away from this bear”
Blood ↑blood pressure “Enough perfusion to the
vessels (BP) muscles to run as fast”
↑respiratory rate “Enough oxygen in the
Lung (RR) and depths blood stream to supply
of breathing my muscles”

Arcuate nucleus
Figure 10. Communication between different cerebral cortices o Releases corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) →
and the limbic system. stimulates pituitary gland to release ACTH → ACTH
stimulates adrenal gland to release cortisol
How does the limbic system know about these o Cortisol: stress hormone
emotional responses?
o The limbic system is in communication with the
cerebral cortex (2) Behaviors
Important areas of the cerebral cortex that communicate (i) Feeding behaviors
with the amygdala:
o Prefrontal cortex
o Temporal lobe
 Carries function for smell, taste, visceral
sensations (insula), and auditory association
o Posterior association area
 Receives information from the somatosensory
association cortex, visual association cortex and Figure 12. The amygdala sending information to VMN and
LHN.
the auditory association cortex
Amygdala sends the information to the hypothalamus
Amygdala can send these sensations to the septal area
Two hypothalamic nuclei:
and hypothalamus where you can generate a lot of
o Ventromedial nucleus (VMN) = satiety
emotional and behavioral responses
 “When you’re in a bad mood and you don’t want to
o Hypothalamus: autonomic responses
eat anything”
Emotional Processing Pathway o Lateral hypothalamic nucleus (LHN) = hunger
 “If you’re sad and depressed, all you want to do is
eat Ben and Jerry’s all day.”

(ii) Sexual behaviors

Figure 13. The amygdala communicates with the hypothalamus

Figure 11. Emotional processing of fear by the amygdala and
its projection to different structures.
Sample case:
o “Walking outside with your robe, you’re going to take
the trash out, and you see a big old grizzly or black
bear. You are going to be in extreme fear.”
Amygdala experiences the sense of fear → hypothalamus
(posterior hypothalamic nucleus and the arcuate nucleus)
Posterior hypothalamic nucleus
o Sends descending information via the
hypothalamospinal tract and innervates the
preganglionic neurons of the thoracolumbar region
(sympathetic NS)
o Sympathetic nerves innervate the liver, heart, blood
vessels, and lungs leading to autonomic responses
(Table 1).
to increase sexual drive.
Depending upon current emotional state, the amygdala
sends information to the hypothalamus.
Two hypothalamic nuclei involved:
o Paraventricular nucleus
 Releases oxytocin, which functions in:
• Uterine contraction and milk ejection in
females
• Sexual orgasms and sexual drive in males
o Medial preoptic nucleus
 Releases gonadotropin-releasing hormone
(GnRH), which stimulates testosterone in males
→ ↑sexual drive

LIMBIC SYSTEM ANATOMY & FUNCTION NEURO PHYSIOLOGY: Note #1. 3 of 4

 (iii) Motivational or goal-directed behaviors IV) REVIEW QUESTIONS

Which of the following components of the limbic

system is involved in sexual behavior?
a. Ventral tegmental area
b. Medial preoptic nucleus
c. Supraoptic nucleus
d. Nucleus accumbens

This white matter tract comes from the amygdala

and projects ventrally to the septal area and
hypothalamus?
Figure 14. The reward pathway connecting the amygdala, a. Mammillothalamic tract
ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens and the prefrontal b. Stria terminalis
cortex. c. Medial forebrain bundle
Aspect of amygdala that is unfortunate to some d. Amygdalofugal pathway
individuals (e.g. drug or substance abuse)
o If someone is using a drug or any substance, it can The stria medullaris thalamis connects what two
bring a sense of euphoria components of the limbic system?
Amygdala → septal area or the hypothalamus (via the a. Septal area and habenula
stria terminalis or ventral amygdalofugal pathway) → b. Septal area and the anterior nucleus
ventral tegmental area (VTA) within the brainstem → c. Prefrontal cortex and the reticular formation
nucleus accumbens and the prefrontal cortex → reward d. Amygdala and the medial dorsal nucleus
o Mesocortical pathway: VTA →prefrontal cortex
o Mesolimbic pathway: VTA → nucleus accumbens What component of the limbic system functions in
remembering the smell of your favorite cologne?
Ventral tegmental area a. Amygdala
o ↑dopaminergic neurons b. Prefrontal cortex
c. Cingulate gyrus
Prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens
d. Parahippocampal gyrus
o Involved in reward sensation
This pathway is involved in what function:
III) CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE subiculum → mammillary bodies → anterior nucleus →
cingulate gyrus → prefrontal cortex
(A) KLUVER-BUCY SYNDROME a. Olfaction
b. Decision-making
Very rare cerebral neurological disorder [NORD, 2018]
c. Memory processing
Damage to bilateral temporal lobe (also called bilateral
d. Emotional processing
temporal lobe disorder [NORD, 2018])
o Primarily the amygdala CHECK YOUR ANSWERS
Clinical presentation: V) REFERENCES
Placidity: no response to fear or anger ● National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). (2018).
Hyperphagia Kluver-Bucy Syndrome. Retrieved from National Organization for
o Impaired feeding behavior Rare Disorders (NORD): https://rarediseases.org/rare-
diseases/kluver-bucy-syndrome/
o Excessive oral tendencies with an urge to put all kinds ● Martin, J. (2021). Neuroanatomy Text and Atlas, 5th ed. New
of objects in the mouth and almost uncontrollable York: McGraw Hill.72157644617030616
appetite for food [NORD, 2018]
Hypersexual
Amnesia
o There is a degree of damage in the hippocampus
Other signs and symptoms [NORD, 2018]:
Hypermetamorophosis: a need to explore everything
Visual distractibility and visual agnosia
o Difficulty identifying and processing visual
information
Dementia

(B) WERNICKE’S ENCEPHALOPATHY

Due to Vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency
Usually damaged the mammillary bodies
o Recall: Mammillary bodies are involved in memory
pathway
Clinical presentation:
Confabulation
o Pieces of information are missing and they generate
false memories to fill in the gap
Ataxia
o Impaired middle cerebellar peduncle
Ophthalmoplegia
o Impaired CN III and CN VI nuclei

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