Fornix of the brain

Brain: Fornix of the brain
	Diagram of the fornix. Right=anterior
	Scheme of rhinencephalon.
Gray's	subject #189 838
NeuroNames	hier-250
MeSH	Fornix+(Brain)
NeuroLex ID	birnlex_705

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The fornix is also the name of part of the cervix (fornix vaginae).

The fornix (Latin, "vault" or "arch") is a C-shaped bundle of fibers (axons) in the brain, and carries signals from the hippocampus to the hypothalamus.

[edit] Structure

Fornix (animation)

The fibres begin in the hippocampus on each side of the brain (where they are also known as the fimbria); the separate left and right side are each called the crus of the fornix. The bundles of fibres come together in the midline of the brain, forming the body of the fornix. The inferior edge of the septum pellucidum (a membrane that separates the two lateral ventricles) is attached to the upper face of the fornix body.

The body of the fornix travels anteriorly and divides again near the anterior commissure. The left and right parts reseparate, but there is also an anterior/posterior divergence.

The posterior fibres (called the postcommissural fornix) of each side continue through the hypothalamus to the mammillary bodies; then to the anterior nuclei of thalamus, which maps to cingulate cortex.
The anterior fibers (precommissural fornix) end at the septal nuclei and nucleus accumbens of each half of the brain.

[edit] Additional images

Velum interpositum.
Medial aspect of a brain sectioned in the median sagittal plane.
Coronal section of brain through intermediate mass of third ventricle.
Coronal section of lateral and third ventricles.
Central part and anterior and posterior cornua of lateral ventricles exposed from above.
Tela chorioidea of the third ventricle, and the choroid plexus of the left lateral ventricle, exposed from above.
Diagram showing the positions of the three principal subarachnoid cisternæ.