The nucleus reuniens is a region of the
thalamic midline nuclear group
The midline nuclear group (or midline thalamic nuclei) is a region of the thalamus consisting of the following nuclei:
* paraventricular nucleus of thalamus (''nucleus paraventricularis thalami'') - not to be confused with paraventricular nucleus ...
. In the human brain, it is located in the
interthalamic adhesion
The interthalamic adhesion (also known as the intermediate mass or middle commissure) is a flattened band of tissue that connects both parts of the thalamus at their medial surfaces. The medial surfaces form the upper part of the lateral wall to t ...
(''massa intermedia'').
The nucleus reuniens receives
afferent input from a large number of structures, mainly from
limbic
The limbic system, also known as the paleomammalian cortex, is a set of brain structures located on both sides of the thalamus, immediately beneath the medial temporal lobe of the cerebrum primarily in the forebrain.Schacter, Daniel L. 2012. ''Ps ...
and limbic-associated structures. It sends projections to the medial
prefrontal cortex
In mammalian brain anatomy, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) covers the front part of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex. The PFC contains the Brodmann areas BA8, BA9, BA10, BA11, BA12, BA13, BA14, BA24, BA25, BA32, BA44, BA45, BA46, ...
, the
hippocampus
The hippocampus (via Latin from Greek , 'seahorse') is a major component of the brain of humans and other vertebrates. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain. The hippocampus is part of the limbic system, a ...
, perirhinal cortex, and
entorhinal cortex
The entorhinal cortex (EC) is an area of the brain's allocortex, located in the medial temporal lobe, whose functions include being a widespread network hub for memory, navigation, and the perception of time.Integrating time from experience in the ...
, although there exist sparse connections to many other afferent structures as well.
The unique medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampal connectivity allows reuniens to regulate neural traffic in this cortical network related to changes in an organism's attentiveness, making reuniens critical to
associative learning
Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machines; there is also evidence for some kind of l ...
, memory retrieval, memory generalization,
spatial route planning, and resilience to stress.
References
Thalamic nuclei
{{Neuroanatomy-stub