Functions of Limbic System

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Functions of Limbic System

Limbic system is the collection of brain structures that are located above the

brainstem, underneath the cerebral cortex and lateral to the thalamus. It consists of various

structures including amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus (Torrico & Abdijadid,

2022). It is known to have links to memory, motivational and emotional processes and it is a

vital structure for normal functioning. Damages in the various areas of the limbic system can

result to deficits in various processes of cognition resulting to mental health issues.

amygdala lies in the temporal lobe and it is an almond shaped structure. It is

responsible for controlling behaviour and emotions. It also plays a role in regulating

aggression, anxiety, social cognition, fear conditioning and emotional memory among

individuals of all age groups arousal (McCance et al., 2019. It processes the emotions of fear

and also plays a role in conditioning of stimuli of appetite such as drugs, food and sex

( AbuHasan & Siddiqui, 2019). It is through this that people get pleasure from things such as

food. It is also a key organ in the formation of memories and this happens when it interacts

with hippocamps resulting to attachment of emotional content to memories. Hippocampus

mainly regulates memory processing of an individual and decision making (Torrico &

Abdijadid, 2022). It enables the formation of new and long term memories in addition to

ability of an individual to remember orientations, locations and directions and also explicit

memories such as date, events and names.

The hypothalamus major role is homeostasis. It controls various functions including;

heart rate, body temperature, blood pressure and sexual activity (Bear et al., 2021). It also

plays a role in controlling how the body respond to stress and it is responsive to various

stimuli such as odor, light and arousal (McCance et al., 2019). Impairment in the
hypothalamus ca result to aggressive behaviours and increased stress, fatigue changes in body

temperature, weight and blood pressure.

 References

Bear, M. H., Reddy, V., & Bollu, P. C. (2021). Neuroanatomy, Hypothalamus. PubMed;

StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK525993/

McCance, K. L., Huether, S. E., BRASHERS, V. L., & ROTE, N. S.

(2019). Pathophysiology: The biologic basic for diseas in adults and children (No. ed.

8). Elsevier.

Qais AbuHasan, & Waquar Siddiqui. (2019, February 20). Neuroanatomy, Amygdala.

Nih.gov; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537102/

Torrico, T. J., & Abdijadid, S. (2022). Neuroanatomy, Limbic System. PubMed; StatPearls

Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538491/#article-36625.s2