The hypothalamus and limbic system are the two major interconnected anatomical substrates underlying higher cortical functions — homeostasis, endocrine and autonomic regulation, learning, memory, and emotion. The hypothalamus, structurally part of the diencephalon but functionally linked to the limbic system, maintains homeostasis via control of the endocrine system and the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, while the limbic system (an evolutionarily old set of cortical and subcortical structures) bridges endocrine, visceral, emotional, and voluntary responses to the environment. This is a topic in neuroanatomy concerned with the structural organization and circuitry (notably the Papez circuit) that supports emotional and mnemonic processing.
The hypothalamus and limbic system are the two major interconnected anatomical substrates underlying higher cortical functions — homeostasis, endocrine and autonomic regulation, learning, memory, and…