00:00Welcome to Two Minute Neuroscience, where I simplistically explain neuroscience topics in two minutes or less.
00:05In this installment, I will discuss the limbic system.
00:08The word limbic comes from the Latin limbus, which means border,
00:12and the limbic system was given this name because its structures lie along a horseshoe-shaped area of cortex
00:17that appears to be a border between the cerebral cortex and the subcortical structures of the diencephalon.
00:22There are many processes associated with the limbic system, but the system is most frequently linked to emotion.
00:29There is no consensus on the structures that are considered a part of the limbic system,
00:33and some argue that it is too much of a simplification to consider something as complex as emotion to be
00:38handled by one group of brain structures.
00:40Regardless, these are some structures that are often included in the limbic system.
00:45The amygdala is an almond-shaped collection of nuclei found in the temporal lobe
00:48that seems to be especially involved with fearful and anxious emotions.
00:52The hippocampus is next to and interconnected with the amygdala.
00:55Although it is considered part of the limbic system, the hippocampus is generally associated with memory, more so than emotion.
01:02The parahippocampal gyrus is an area of cortex that surrounds the hippocampus and also plays a role in memory.
01:07The cingulate cortex, or cingulate gyrus, is found just above the corpus callosum and is involved in various aspects of
01:13emotion and memory.
01:14The septal nuclei have connections with a number of other limbic structures and are thought to be especially important to
01:19pleasure, reward, and reinforcement.
01:21The mammillary bodies are two groups of nuclei that are involved in memory and have extensive connections with the amygdala
01:27and hippocampus.
01:29The fornix is a fiber bundle that carries information from the hippocampus to the mammillary bodies and then on to
01:34the thalamus.
01:35The hypothalamus controls hormone release via the anterior pituitary and can exert widespread influence over bodily states to maintain homeostasis.
01:43While there are other structures that may be included in the limbic system, the structures identified here are some that
01:48are commonly considered part of it.