The limbic system is the border zone where psychiatry meets neurology.
The authors provide a model of limbic function that combines phylogenetic,
anatomic, functional, and clinical data to interpret diseases relevant to
neuropsychiatry. They provide evidence supporting two major divisions in
the limbic system: a paleocortical division with the amygdala and
orbitofrontal cortex at its center, and an archicortical division with the
hippocampus and cingulate cortex at its center. The implicit integration of
affect, drives, and object associations is the function of the
paleocortical limbic division; explicit sensory processing, encoding, and
attentional control is the function of the archicortical limbic division.
The two work in concert to integrate thought, feeling, and action.
Understanding their development and organization informs us about how best
to care for our patients.Abstract Teaser