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Medicine Notes Neurology Notes

The Limbic System Notes

Updated The Limbic System Notes

Neurology Notes

Neurology

Approximately 117 pages

These notes helped me achieve a mark of 76% in my neurology exam, which is the equivalent of a 1st. The notes are based on a series of 49 lectures on the subject. This is a very good, thorough and in depth review of the nervous system. They are very clearly laid out and easy to follow. They cut out unnecessary information on the topic, making the notes very concise, and fast to get through. Anyone studying medicine, or any other subject requiring knowledge of the nervous system (e.g. physiology o...

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Lecture 41

The Limbic System

  • The Limbic Lobe (Broca, 1878)

    • Cingulate gyrus

    • Uncus (bump on parahippocampal gyrus)

    • Hippocampus

    • Parahippocampal gyrus (medial surfaces of temporal lobe)

  • Circuit of Papez

    • Original model

  • Anatomy

    • Hippocampal fibres go via fornix to mammillary bodies of hypothalamus

    • MB project via mammillothalamic tract to anterior thalamic nuclei (AT)

    • Fibres from AT project to cingulate gyrus via internal capsule

    • White matter pathway; cingulum bundle from cingulate cortex to parahippocampal gyrus and then to hippocampus

  • Function

    • Thought to principally be involved in emotional processing but is NOT

    • Expanded to include

      • Septal Nuclei

      • Ventral striatum

      • Prefrontal cortex

      • Amygdala

    • Structure in circuit critical for MEMORY not emotion

  • Present model

  • The Limbic system

    • Components (diverse set of cortical & subcortical structures; medial & ventral)

      • Prefrontal cortex

      • Parahippocampal gyrus; Hippocampus

      • Septal nuclei and nucleus accumbens

      • Amygdala

      • Hypothalamus

      • Thalamus

    • Function

      • HOME (homeostasis; olfaction; memory; emotion)

  • Amygdala

    • General

      • At the anterior region of hippocampus

      • Collection of nuclei

    • Structure and functions

      • Corticomedial part

        • Large olfactory input, hypothalamic output

        • Olfactory-visceral innervation (i.e. exert control over hypothalamus)

      • Basolateral part

        • Extensive interconnections with cortical areas

        • Primitive/animalistic behavioural responses

    • Kluver-Bucy Syndrome

      • Selective damage to amygdala (bilateral temporal lobe damage- rare)

      • Effects on aggression and response to fearful situations

      • Poor recognition; Oral tendencies; Hypersexuality; Reduced fear

    • Amygdala and fear

      • In humans, selective damage to amygdala rare

      • Urbach-Wiethe disease

        • Genetic condition (particularly Dutch & South African)

        • Difficulty in recognising emotional expressions

      • Amygdala appears to mediate both...

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