Mammillary body

From Psychology Wiki

Brain: Mammillary body
The hypophysis cerebri in position. Shown in sagittal section. (Label "corpus mamillare" at right.)
Coronal section of brain through intermediate mass of third ventricle. (Label "corpus mamillare" at bottom.)
Latin	corpus mamillare
Gray's	subject #188 813
Part of
Components
Artery
Vein
BrainInfo/UW	hier-395
MeSH	A08.186.211.730.385.357.362.500

The mammillary bodies are a pair of small round bodies in the brain forming part of the limbic system. They are located at the ends of the anterior arches of the fornix, and are named mammillary for their resemblance to two breasts. They consist of two groups of nuclei, the medial and lateral nuclei. They are connected to other parts of the brain as shown in the schematics below.

The mammillary bodies are parts of the brain known to be significantly damaged by alcohol intoxication. Researchers in 1998 also noted visible abnormalities in the mammillary bodies of individuals with autism.

Damage to the mammillary bodies can result from Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Symptoms include impaired memory, also called anterograde amnesia; this suggests that the mammillary bodies might be important for memory.

The name "mammillary bodies" refers to the resemblence of the protrusions to a pair of breasts on the ventral surface of the brain.

[edit] External links

• The mammillary bodies: two memory systems in one? (was broken link to http://cmbi.bjmu.edu.cn/view/0401/1040.PDF)
• http://www.thefreedictionary.com/mammillary%20body
• http://www.conradsimon.org/AuditorySystem.shtml

Human brain: Limbic system
Amygdala - Cingulate gyrus - Fornicate gyrus - Hippocampus - Hypothalamus - Mammillary body - Nucleus accumbens - Orbitofrontal cortex - Parahippocampal gyrus

This box: view • talk • edit Brain: diencephalon
Epithalamus	Pineal body • Habenula (Habenular nuclei)
Hypothalamus	anterior: Anterior hypothalamic nucleus • Paraventricular nucleus • Preoptic area • Supraoptic nucleus • Suprachiasmatic nucleus intermediate/middle/tuberal/pituitary: infundibulum • median eminence • arcuate nucleus • Ventromedial nucleus • Dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus • Tuber cinereum, Pituitary gland (Anterior pituitary, Posterior pituitary) posterior/lateral: posterior nucleus • Mammillary body • Lateral nucleus other: Medial forebrain bundle
Subthalamus	Subthalamic nucleus • Zona incerta • Thalamic fasciculus • Lenticular fasciculus
Thalamus/nuclei	Ventral nuclear group (VA/VL, VP/VPM/VPL) • MD • AN • LNG (Pulvinar) • Intralaminar nucleus (Centromedian nucleus) • Midline nuclear group • Thalamic reticular nucleus • Metathalamus (MG, LG) • Interthalamic adhesion
Third ventricle	recesses: (Optic recess, Infundibular recess, Suprapineal recess, Pineal recess) • Hypothalamic sulcus
Other	Interventricular foramina • Optic chiasm • Subfornical organ • Mammillothalamic tract

de:Corpus mamillare

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This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Mammillary body. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.