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Mammillary body |
| Brain: Mammillary body | ||
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| The hypophysis cerebri in position. Shown in sagittal section. (Label "corpus mamillare" at right.) | ||
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| Coronal section of brain through intermediate mass of third ventricle. (Label "corpus mamillare" at bottom.) | ||
| Latin | corpus mamillare | |
| Gray's | subject #188 813 | |
| Part of | Midbrain | |
| System | Limbic | |
| Components | medial mammillary nucleus lateral mammillary nucleus |
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| Acronym(s) | mmb | |
| NeuroNames | hier-395 | |
| MeSH | Mamillary+Bodies | |
The mammillary bodies (mamillary bodies) are a pair of small round bodies, located on the undersurface of the brain, that form part of the limbic system. So named because they look like breasts. They are located at the ends of the anterior arches of the fornix. They consist of two groups of nuclei, the medial mammillary nuclei and the lateral mammillary nuclei.
Neuroanatomists have often categorized the mammillary bodies as part of the hypothalamus.1
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They are connected to other parts of the brain (as shown in the schematic, below left), and act as a relay for impulses coming from the amygdalae and hippocampi, via the mamillo-thalamic tract to the thalamus.
This circuit, from amygdalae to mamillary bodies, and then on to the thalamus, is part of the larger 'Papez circuit'.
They come out of the interpeduncular fossa.
They, along with the anterior and dorsomedial nuclei in the thalamus, are involved with the processing of recognition memory.
The mammillary bodies are parts of the brain known to be significantly damaged by alcohol intoxication, especially by chronic alcohol abuse and associated deficiency of thiamine. Researchers, in 1998, also noted visible abnormalities in the mammillary bodies of individuals with autism.2
In 2008, scientists discovered that patients with obstructive sleep apnea had mammillary bodies that were were significantly smaller than normal, particularly on the left side.3
Damage to the mammillary bodies due to thiamine deficiency is implied in pathogenesis of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Symptoms include impaired memory, also called anterograde amnesia, suggesting that the mammillary bodies may be important for memory. Lesions of the medial dorsal and anterior nuclei of the thalami and lesions of the mammillary bodies are commonly involved in amnesic syndromes in humans.4
 Brain |
 Human brainstem anterior view |
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