ANATOMY OF THE MENTAL AND

NEUROBEHAVIOR DISORDER

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 Learning Objectives
1. Describe the structures involved in psychiatric and
neurobehavioral disorders
2. Describe and diagram the basic morphology of the
structures comprising the limbic system
3. Describe and diagram the input-output relationships
of limbic nuclei
4. Characterize the functions of limbic brain structures
and their underlying mechanisms (where known)
5. Develop an understanding of the structural and
functional bases for clinical and behavioral disorders
associated with dysfunctions of the limbic system
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 Structures Involved in Psychiatric and
Neurobehavioral Disorder
1. Hippocampal formation
2. Amygdala
3. Orbitofrontal cortex
4. Cingulate gyrus
5. Hypothalamus Limbic system
6. Mammilary bodies
7. Anterior thalamic nucleus
8. Medial dorsal thalamis nucleus
9. Ventral striatum
10. Frontal lobe
11. Rhinencephalon
12. Mesencephalon
1. Substantia Nigra
2. Ventral tegmental area (VTA)
3. Formatio reticularis

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 INTRODUCTION
Association The human brain is the organ that is the basis of
cortex what persons sense, do, feel, and think; or put
in more formal terms, our sensory, behavioral,
affective, and cognitive experiences and
attributes. It is the organ that perceives and
affects the environment and integrates past and
Primary Primary present.
sensory By processing external stimuli into neuronal
motor impulses, sensory systems create an internal
cortex cortex representation of the external world. A separate
map is formed for each sensory modality.
Motor systems enable persons to manipulate
their environment and to influence others'
behavior through communication.
In the brain, sensory input, representing the
Sensory Lower Motor external world, is integrated with internal
drivers, memories, and emotional stimuli in
system neuron association units, which in turn drive the actions
of motor units.
Although psychiatry is primarily concerned with
the brain's association function, an appreciation
of the sensory and motor systems' information
processing is essential for sorting logical thought
from the distortions introduced by
psychopathology.

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 OVERVIEW OF THE
FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY
OF THE BRAIN

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 McLeans schema of the evolutionary development of a three-layered
triune brain. Note the location of the limbic system in the middle tier
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Brain Circuitry and Signaling in Psychiatry
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Areas of the human cerebral cortex defined by Brodmann in his 1909 publication
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The six layers of the neocortex, from the pial surface above layer 1 to the
white matter below layer 6. 14
Diagram of the structure of the cerebral cortex. A: Golgi neuronal stain. B: Nissl
cellular stain. C: Weigart myelin stain. D: Neuronal connections. Roman and Arabic
numerals indicate the layers of the isocortex (neocortex); 4, external line of
Baillarger (line of Gennari in the occipital lobe); 5b, internal line of Baillarger. 15
Spatial relationships between basal ganglia, thalamus, and
internal capsule as viewed from the left side.
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OVERVIEW OF THE
LIMBIC SYSTEM

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 LIMBIC SYSTEM
is a system that concerns with specific motivated
or goal-oriented behaviors, directly aimed at the
maintenance of homeostasis and at the survival
of the individual and of the species
(Nieuwenhuys, 1996)
Functions:
Maintenance of homeostasis
Motivated and goal-oriented behaviors
Survival of the individual
Survival of the species
Learning and memory

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 Stuctures of the Limbic System
1. Hypothalamus
2. Amygdala
3. Septal area
4. Hippocampal formation
5. Cingulate gyrus

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The limbic structures. The right hemisphere, as viewed from the medial aspect.
The regions and cell groups indicated in red are usually included in the term
limbic system.

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The hippocampal formation, fornix, mammillary nucleus, and the
amygdala. Left: Viewed obliquely from behind. Right: Viewed from
above.

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Schematic illustration of the location of the limbic system
between the diencephalon and the neocortical hemispheres
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Schematic illustration of the concentric main components of the limbic sytem.

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Schematic drawing of the major anatomical structures of the limbic system.
Note: The cingulated and parahippocampal gyri form the limbic lobe, a rim
of tissue located along the junction of the diencephalons and the cerebral
hemispheres. n, nucleus.
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Schematic illustration (left oblique view) of the position of the hippocampal
formation within the left hemisphere

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Le Grande Lobe Limbique as adapted from Brocas original 1878 drawing of an
otters brain. Brocas callosal gyrus is now termed the cingulate gyrus.

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Schematic showing some of the major limbic structures and pathways.
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 Information flow to and from the
limbic system
The limbic system receives inputs from
sensory systems, including the cerebral
cortex, and monoamine neuronal
groups of the brainstem reticular
formation.
Primary outputs of the limbic system
are directed to the hypothalamus. This
arrangement allows the limbic system
to alter the activity of the
hypothalamus in response to sensory
input.
Because the hypothalamus provides
the integrating mechanism for different
forms of emotional behaviors as well as
for other visceral and autonomic
responses, the limbic system serves as
a key modulating region of these
processes by virtue of its inputs into
the hypothalamus.
Inputs to the limbic system from
monoamine pathways can provide the
substrates underlying mood changes.
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HIPPOCAMPAL
FORMATION

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 Structures constitute the
Hippocampal Formation
1. Subiculum
2. Dentate gyrus
3. Hippocampus proper

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Hippocampal formation in
relation to other limbic
structures.
A, amygdala;
AC, anterior commissure;
AN, anterior nucleus of the
thalamus;
B-F, basofrontal region;
CC, corpus callosum (b,
body; g, genu; s, splenium);
CG, cingulate gyrus;
E-RC, entorhinal cortex;
F, fornix;
Fm, fimbria;
HF, hippocampal formation;
IG, indusium griseum;
MB, mammillary bodies;
MTT, mammillothalamic
tract;
S, septal area;
T, thalamus.

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Diagram illustrates the histological appearance of the cell layers within the
hippocampus and loci of the hippocampal fields, dentate gyrus, and subicular cortex.
CA1-CA4 denote the four sectors of the hippocampus
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Semischematic diagram illustrates: (1) inputs from the entorhinal region, which include
the perforant and alvear pathways; (2) internal circuitry, which includes the connections of
the mossy fibers and Schaffer collaterals; and (3) efferent projections of the hippocampal
formation through the fimbria-fornix system of fibers. 39
Major projection targets of the hippocampal formation. The primary output is through the fornix to
diencephalon (i.e., medial hypothalamus, mammillary bodies, and anterior thalamic nucleus) via the
postcommissural fornix and to the septal area via the precommissural fornix. Other connections shown
include efferent fibers that synapse in entorhinal cortex, which, in turn, project to amygdala and
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cingulate gyrus
 Papez circuit
HIPPOCAMPAL FIBERS project to the MAMMILLARY BODIES, which, in turn, project
through the MAMMILLOTHALAMIC TRACT to the ANTERIOR NUCLEUS. The anterior
thalamic nucleus then projects to the CINGULATE GYRUS, and the axons of the cingulate
gyrus then project back to the HIPPOCAMPAL FORMATION. 41
OFC, orbitofrontal cortex
FAC, Frontal association cortex
PMC, premotor cortex
AAC,auditory association cortex
SAC,somatosensory association cortex
SPL , superior parietal lobule
IPL, inferior parietal lobule
TAC, temporal association cortex,
VAC, visual association cortex

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BFC, basal frontal cortex
OFC, orbitofrontal cortex
FAC, Frontal association cortex
PMC, premotor cortex
CG, cingulate gyrus
CC, corpus callosum
PAC, parietal association cortex
SAC,somatosensory association cortex
TAC, temporal association cortex,
VAC, visual association cortex
A, amygdala
H, hippocampus
E, entorhinal cortex

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 LgF, longitudinal fissure
PCS, precentral sulcus
CS, central sulcus
LF, lateral fissure
STS, superior temporal sulcus
MTS, middle temporal sulcus
ITS, inferior temporal sulcus
CoS, collateral sulcus

HIPPOCAMPAL AFFERENTS HIPPOCAMPAL EFFERENTS

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HYPOTHALAMUS

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A. The approximate boundaries of the
anterior, middle, and posterior
divisions of the Hypothalamus
B. The medial and lateral zones of the
hypothalamus(shaded). Hypothalamic
cells adjacent to the third ventricle is
paraventricular zone.
Abbreviations:
A, amygdala;
AC, anterior commissure;
AcN, accumbens nucleus;
CN, caudate nucleus;
CP, cerebral peduncles;
Fc, columns of the fornix;
Fcrus, crus of fornix;
Inf, infundibulum;
MB, mammillary body;
OC, optic chiasm;
ON, optic nerve;
OT, optic tract;
P, putamen;
Pit, pituitary gland;
S, septal nuclei;
SN, substantia nigra;
SubT, subthalamus;
T, thalamus. 46
HYPOTHALAMICPITUITARY CONNECTIONS.

The posterior portion of the pituitary

(neurohypophysis) is innervated by
hypothalamic neurons that transport the
hypothalamic hormones (oxytocin and
vasopressin) down their axons to be
released into capillary beds of the
posterior pituitary from where they enter
the general circulation. By contrast, the
capillary beds of the anterior pituitary
(adenohypophysis) are supplied with
hypothalamic hormones (either
releasing or inhibitory factors) via a
blood portal system from capillary beds in
the hypothalamus itself. Once released
into the adenohypophysis, these
hypothalamic hormones then stimulate
pituitary cells to synthesize and secrete
their own (pituitary) hormones, which
then are released into the bloodstream.
Note: Some hypothalamic hormones
inhibit the production/secretion of
pituitary hormones. 47
SEPTAL AREA

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Topographically organized projections from the hippocampal formation to the
septal area (left side) and topographically arranged efferent projections from
the diagonal band of Broca to the hippocampal formation (right side).

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Diagram illustrates other projections from the septal area to the medial
hypothalamus, mammillary bodies, medial thalamus, prefrontal cortex,
and anterior cingulate gyrus.
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AMYGDALA

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the organization of the nuclei of the amygdala

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The major efferent projections of the amygdala. One principal output includes the stria terminalis,
which projects to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and to the rostro-caudal extent of the
medial hypothalamus. Fibers from the bed nucleus also supply similar regions of the
hypothalamus. Another important output to the hypothalamus and midbrain PAG uses the ventral
amygdalofugal pathway. Other fibers pass rostrally from the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.
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The amygdala. Frontal section through the left hemisphere . Some of the
amygdaloid nuclei are marked. The amygdala and the cerebral cortex of the
temporal lobe are closely connected.

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Afferent connections of the amygdala Efferent connections of the
amygdala

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The amygdala and conditioned fear. The neural substrate of the responses elicited by a
conditioned stimulus (sound) associated with an electric foot shock. The connections of the
amygdala with the sensory association areas are necessary for discriminative aspects of
stimulus analysis, while connections with the hippocampus mediate contextual conditioning.
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Main connections of the cingulate gyrus. The cingulate gyrus has
connections with cortical association areas and with limbic structures and may
act as a mediator between them.

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