The limbic system contains the amygdala, hypothalamus, and the hippocampus. Memories from the conscious mind are processes in the hippocampus. If this area is damaged or lost, a person will lose their ability to make new memories.
Thalamus and Hypothalamus
The thalamus is a pair of egg shape structures on the top of the brain stem which receives information from all the senses except of the sense of smell. The thalamus will send the information to the regions of the brain that deals with the respected sense. This structure also receives information back and in turn sends it to the medulla and the cerebellum.
Below the thalamus is the hypothalamus --hence the name. The hypothalamus is a neuron cluster that controls hunger, thirst, body temperature, and sexual behavior. With controls of each of these, the hypothalamus maintains homeostasis--inner stability. It also monitors the body for any changes and listens to orders from other parts of the brain.
In the 1950s, two neuropsychologists, James Olds and Peter Milner (1954), wanted to place an electrode into the reticular formation of a rat's brain; however, they placed it on the rat's hypothalamus (Olds, 1975). The rat was place in a box and when it went to a corner, Olds and Milner would stimulate the hypothalamus through the electrode. When they did this, it was expected that the rat stay away from the corner; it instead would go back to the place where it was first stimulated. The neuropsychologists realized that they had place the electrode on a region that gave pleasurable rewards (Olds, 1975). Today, in order calm certain patients, an electrode can be placed on their hypothalamus.
Below the thalamus is the hypothalamus --hence the name. The hypothalamus is a neuron cluster that controls hunger, thirst, body temperature, and sexual behavior. With controls of each of these, the hypothalamus maintains homeostasis--inner stability. It also monitors the body for any changes and listens to orders from other parts of the brain.
In the 1950s, two neuropsychologists, James Olds and Peter Milner (1954), wanted to place an electrode into the reticular formation of a rat's brain; however, they placed it on the rat's hypothalamus (Olds, 1975). The rat was place in a box and when it went to a corner, Olds and Milner would stimulate the hypothalamus through the electrode. When they did this, it was expected that the rat stay away from the corner; it instead would go back to the place where it was first stimulated. The neuropsychologists realized that they had place the electrode on a region that gave pleasurable rewards (Olds, 1975). Today, in order calm certain patients, an electrode can be placed on their hypothalamus.
Amagdala
The amygdala is a cluster of neurons that has been linked to aggression and fear, as well as perceiving these emotions and processing emotions related to memory (Anderson & Phelps, 2000; Poremba & Gabriel, 2001). An experiment done in 1939 by a psychologist, Heinrich Kluver, and a neurosurgon, Paul Bucy, in which the amygdala was removed from an aggressive rhesus monkey. After the structure was removed, the monkey became calm or mellow tempered. Even though the amygdala has been linked to these emotions, there is neural activity throughout the brain when anger or fear is felt.