Hippocampus - Anatomy

Anatomy

Anatomically, the hippocampus is an elaboration of the edge of the cerebral cortex. The structures that line the edge of the cortex make up the so-called limbic system (Latin limbus = border): these include the hippocampus, cingulate cortex, olfactory cortex, and amygdala. Paul MacLean once suggested, as part of his triune brain theory, that the limbic structures comprise the neural basis of emotion. Some neuroscientists no longer believe that the concept of a unified "limbic system" is valid, though. However, the hippocampus is anatomically connected to parts of the brain that are involved with emotional behavior—the septum, the hypothalamic mammillary body, and the anterior nuclear complex in the thalamus so its role as a limbic structure cannot be completely dismissed.

The hippocampus as a whole has the shape of a curved tube, which has been analogized variously to a seahorse, a ram's horn (Cornu Ammonis, hence the subdivisions CA1 through CA4), or a banana. It can be distinguished as a zone where the cortex narrows into a single layer of densely packed pyramidal neurons 3-6 cells deep in rats, which curl into a tight U shape; one edge of the "U," field CA4, is embedded into a backward facing strongly flexed V-shaped cortex, the dentate gyrus. It consists of ventral and dorsal portions, both of which share similar composition but are parts of different neural circuits. This general layout holds across the full range of mammalian species, from hedgehog to human, although the details vary. In the rat, the two hippocampi resemble a pair of bananas, joined at the stems by the hippocampal commissure that crosses the midline under the anterior corpus callosum. In human or monkey brains, the portion of the hippocampus down at the bottom, near the base of the temporal lobe, is much broader than the part at the top. One of the consequences of this complex geometry is that cross-sections through the hippocampus can show a variety of shapes, depending on the angle and location of the cut.

The entorhinal cortex (EC), located in the parahippocampal gyrus, is considered to be part of the hippocampal region because of its anatomical connections. The EC is strongly and reciprocally connected with many other parts of the cerebral cortex. In addition, the medial septal nucleus, the anterior nuclear complex and nucleus reuniens of the thalamus and the supramammillary nucleus of the hypothalamus, as well as the raphe nuclei and locus coeruleus in the brainstem send axons to the EC. The main output pathway (perforant path, first described by Ramon y Cajal) of EC axons comes from the large stellate pyramidal cells in layer II that "perforate" the subiculum and project densely to the granule cells in the dentate gyrus, apical dendrites of CA3 get a less dense projection, and the apical dendrites of CA1 get a sparse projection. Thus, the perforant path establishes the EC as the main "interface" between the hippocampus and other parts of the cerebral cortex. The dentate granule cell axons (called mossy fibers) pass on the information from the EC on thorny spines that exit from the proximal apical dendrite of CA3 pyramidal cells. Then, CA3 axons exit from the deep part of the cell body, and loop up into the region where the apical dendrites are located, then extend all the way back into the deep layers of the entorhinal cortex—the Shaffer collaterals completing the reciprocal circuit; field CA1 also sends axons back to the EC, but these are more sparse than the CA3 projection. Within the hippocampus, the flow of information from the EC is largely unidirectional, with signals propagating through a series of tightly packed cell layers, first to the dentate gyrus, then to the CA3 layer, then to the CA1 layer, then to the subiculum, then out of the hippocampus to the EC, mainly due to collateralization of the CA3 axons. Each of these layers also contains complex intrinsic circuitry and extensive longitudinal connections.

Several other connections play important roles in hippocampal function. Beyond the output to the EC, additional output pathways go to other cortical areas including the prefrontal cortex. A very important large output goes to the lateral septal area and to the mammillary body of the hypothalamus. The hippocampus receives modulatory input from the serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine systems, and from nucleus reuniens of the thalamus to field CA1. A very important projection comes from the medial septal area, which sends cholinergic and GABAergic fibers to all parts of the hippocampus. The inputs from the septal area play a key role in controlling the physiological state of the hippocampus: destruction of the septal area abolishes the hippocampal theta rhythm, and severely impairs certain types of memory.

The cortical region adjacent to the hippocampus is known collectively as the parahippocampal gyrus (or parahippocampus). It includes the EC and also the perirhinal cortex, which derives its name from the fact that it lies next to the rhinal sulcus. The perirhinal cortex plays an important role in visual recognition of complex objects, but there is also substantial evidence that it makes a contribution to memory which can be distinguished from the contribution of the hippocampus, and that complete amnesia occurs only when both the hippocampus and the parahippocampus are damaged.