Title: limbic system
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - limbic system
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.11852
Status: current

Definition
Collection of interconnected neurons lying underneath the cerebrum on either side of the thalamus, related more by anatomical location than as a single functional entity.

Notes
1) Various structures of the limbic system, including the cingulate gyrus, the isthmus, the hippocampus, the uncus, and the amygdala are associated with various emotions and feelings such as anger, fear, sexual arousal, pleasure, and sadness.
2) Often termed the paleobrain, and considered to consist of primitive structures.

Related Terms
- amygdala: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11580
- brain: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11647
- cerebrum: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11671
- uncus: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12154

Source
- PAC, 2015, 87, 841. 'IUPAC Glossary of terms used in neurotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2015)' on page 878 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-0103)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11852/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11852/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11852/xml

Citation: Citation: 'limbic system' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.11852
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
Collection: If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org .
Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-05-24T02:27:50+00:00