Although no precise definition of the limbic system is agreed on, many would claim that it contains a diverse and complex collection of interconnected brain structures, which include the hypothalamus, along with sites lining the inner (medial) surface of each cerebral hemisphere, such as the cingulate cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. These latter regions make up the main portion of the forebrain in most species, and it is only with the evolutionary development of higher mammals that the limbic system is superseded by the more modern neocortex. Whether the limbic system can be regarded as a functionally integrated brain region in its own right is contested. The system is highly complex anatomically, and this is reflected in the great diversity of behaviors it produces, which ...

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