Mammillary body
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| 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 | |
| Acronym(s) | mmb | |
| NeuroNames | 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 and act as a relay between the thalmus and impulses coming from the amygdalae and hippocampi via the fornix. This circuit, from amygdalae to mamillary bodies and then on to the thalmus is part of the larger 'Papez circuit'.
The mammillary bodies are parts of the brain known to be significantly damaged by alcohol intoxication, especially by chronic alcohol abuse and associated deficiency of thiamine. Researchers in 1998 also noted visible abnormalities in the mammillary bodies of individuals with autism.
Damage to the mammillary bodies due to thiamine deficiency is implied in pathogenesis of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Symptoms include impaired memory, also called anterograde amnesia; this suggests that the mammillary bodies might be important for memory.
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[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 - edit |
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| Amygdala | Cingulate gyrus | Fornicate gyrus | Hippocampus | Hypothalamus | Mammillary body | Nucleus accumbens | Orbitofrontal cortex | Parahippocampal gyrus |
| Diencephalon - edit |
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third ventricle, interventricular foramina, optic chiasm, subfornical organ epithalamus: pineal body, habenula, habenular nuclei anterior hypothalamus: anterior hypothalamic nucleus, paraventricular nucleus, preoptic area, supraoptic nucleus, suprachiasmatic nucleus intermediate/middle/tuberal/pituitary hypothalamus: infundibulum, median eminence, arcuate nucleus, ventromedial nucleus, dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus, tuber cinereum, pituitary gland (anterior pituitary, posterior pituitary) posterior/lateral hypothalamus: posterior nucleus, mammillary body, lateral nucleus subthalamus: subthalamic nucleus thalamus: pulvinar, medial geniculate nucleus, lateral geniculate nucleus, list of thalamic nuclei |
