brain, sagittal view, C-shaped structures, amygdala, emotion, memory, decision, forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain, thalamus, corpus callosum, ventricles, limbic system, basal ganglia, falx, cingulate gyrus, anterior cerebral artery, supracollosal gyrus, indusium griseum, hippocampus, septum pellucidum, fornix, fimbria, lateral horns, ventricles, art, the common vein, art in anatomy, Ashley Davidoff MD

The Primitive Amygdala at the Base of the Brain

The amygdala (red arrow) is a nucleus that is part of the limbic system.  It is a paired structure.  They are located deep in the temporal lobes and participate in emotional reactions, memory, and decision making.

Description

The amygdala (red arrow) is a nucleus that is part of the limbic system.  It is a paired structure.  They are located deep in the temporal lobes and participate in emotional reactions, memory, and decision making.

The forebrain has most of its components aligned in a series of inverted c- shaped rings starting from the outer membranes that culminate in the falx (pink), then extending inward via smaller inner rings with each intimately connected to the others. The thalamus (dull orange) appears diagrammatically as the center of these rings. The outer ring is the cerebral cortex (light green), followed by the cingulate gyrus (bright green) falx (pink) The red ring represents the distribution of the main portion of the anterior cerebral artery. Next is the yellow ring which is the supracollosal gyrus (indusium griseum) superiorly and the hippocampus inferiorly. This is followed by the corpus callosum (purple) which enables the white ring of white matter to connect between hemispheres. The navy blue arrow headed structure is the septum pellucidum. The next ring is the thin bright pink ring which represents the fornix superiorly and the fimbria inferiorly. The innermost ring (light blue) represents the lateral horns of the ventricular system. The basal ganglia run lateral to the lateral ventricles. The abstract art provides a simple yet accurate conceptual organization of the infinite complexity of the brain.