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The Papez circuit

The Papez circuit plays a critical role in the processing and transfer of information for long storage (Papez JW. A proposed mechanism of emotion. 1937. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 1995;7[1]:103-12.). The Papez circuit begins in the hippocampus (A) and continues sequentially to the fornix (B), the mamillary body (C), and then through the mammillothalamic tract to the anterior nucleus of the thalamus (D). From there it connects to the cingulate gyrus (E) through anterior thalamic radiations. The cingulum (F) courses around the corpus callosum to reach the entorhinal cortex (I), which projects to the hippocampus (A), completing the circuit (Shah A, Jhawar SS, Goel A. Analysis of the anatomy of the Papez circuit and adjoining limbic system by fiber dissection techniques. J Clin Neurosci 2012;19[2]:289-98.). (Source: Mazzacane F, Ferrari F, Malvaso A, et al. Acute amnestic syndrome in fornix lesions: a systematic review of reported cases with a focus on differential diagnosis. Front Neurol 2024;15:1338291. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International [CC BY 4.0] license, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0.)

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