Regions · 65 structures

65 brain structures: regions and substructures

Every brain structure in the NeuroPsych Atlas: 43 main regions and 22 substructures. Each page covers anatomy, functions, connections and chemistry, development, clinical relevance, treatment, assessment and lesion findings, with a link that opens the structure in the 3D atlas.

Frontal Lobe 6

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex DLPFCCortex praefrontalis dorsolateralisThe hub of executive function: holds information in mind, works on it, plans and steers behavior toward goals.
Orbitofrontal Cortex OFCCortex orbitofrontalisComputes the value of rewards and punishments; flexibly updates behavior according to expectations and monitors social…
Medial & Frontopolar Prefrontal Cortex mPFC / vmPFCCortex praefrontalis medialisRepresents the self and other minds; by regulating the amygdala it supports fear extinction and emotional balance.
Broca’s Area (Inferior Frontal Gyrus) Broca / IFGGyrus frontalis inferior — pars opercularis et triangularisSpeech production, syntax and verbal working memory; its right-hemisphere homolog contributes to response inhibition.
Premotor Cortex & SMA PMC / SMAArea praemotoria et area motoria supplementariaPlans and sequences movement; manages internally initiated actions, bimanual coordination and eye movements.
Primary Motor Cortex M1Gyrus praecentralis — area motoria primariaExecutor of voluntary movement: the main source of the corticospinal tract, controlling the opposite half of the body.

Parietal Lobe 4

Primary Somatosensory Cortex S1Gyrus postcentralis — area somatosensoria primariaMakes the body felt by mapping touch, pressure, pain, temperature and body position.
Superior Parietal Lobule SPL / IPSLobulus parietalis superiorJoins vision with movement: computes where an object is, guides reaching and grasping, and contributes to number sense.
Inferior Parietal Lobule IPLLobulus parietalis inferior — gyrus supramarginalis et angularisThe region of reading, calculation and praxis (left), and of reorienting attention and taking another’s perspective…
Temporoparietal Junction TPJJunctio temporoparietalisThe region for telling self from other, representing another’s beliefs and turning attention to unexpected stimuli.

Temporal Lobe 2

Superior Temporal Gyrus & Wernicke STG / STSGyrus temporalis superiorProcesses what we hear and makes sense of it; sounds, speech, prosody and the perception of social motion come together…
Inferior Temporal & Fusiform Cortex ITG / FGGyri temporales medius et inferior, gyrus fusiformisTells us “what” we see: recognition of faces, objects and written words; a store of conceptual knowledge.

Occipital Lobe 1

Occipital Lobe — Visual Cortex V1–V5Lobus occipitalis — cortex visualisWhere visual information is first processed: it analyzes edges, orientation, color, motion and depth and distributes…

Limbic Cortex & Insula 3

Anterior Cingulate Cortex ACCGyrus cinguli — pars anteriorDetects errors and conflict and adjusts effort; bridges emotion, pain and attention.
Insula InsulaLobus insularis (island of Reil)Feels the inside of the body: turns heartbeat, hunger, disgust and pain into subjective feeling…
Posterior Cingulate & Precuneus PCC / PrecuneusGyrus cinguli posterior et praecuneusThe hub of the default mode network: inward-directed thought, autobiographical memory and the experience of self…

Limbic Structures 3

Hippocampus HCHippocampusEncodes and consolidates new memories; maps space and context, and brakes the stress response.
Amygdala AMYCorpus amygdaloideumA detector of emotional salience: quickly answers “does this matter to me — is it dangerous, is it valuable?”…
Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis BNSTNucleus interstitialis striae terminalisPart of the extended amygdala: drives sustained anxiety in the face of uncertain and distant threats…

Basal Ganglia 11

Caudate Nucleus CNNucleus caudatusThe striatal partner of the prefrontal cortex: supports goal-directed behavior, learning from feedback and cognitive…
Putamen PUTPutamenThe entry gate of the motor loop: initiation of movement, habits that become automatic and motor sequence learning.
Globus Pallidus GPe / GPiGlobus pallidusThe output brake of the basal ganglia: tonically suppresses the thalamus, releases the wanted movement and stops the…
- Globus Pallidus, External Segment GPeGlobus pallidus externusThe relay station of the indirect pathway: tunes the suppression of unwanted movements by braking the subthalamic…
- Globus Pallidus, Internal Segment GPiGlobus pallidus internusThe main output nucleus of the basal ganglia: brakes the thalamus; a deep brain stimulation target in dystonia and…
Subthalamic Nucleus STNNucleus subthalamicusThe “stop” button of the basal ganglia: receives fast signals from the cortex through the hyperdirect pathway and…
Substantia Nigra SNSubstantia nigraThe midbrain’s “black substance”: made of the compacta, which feeds movement and habit learning with dopamine…
- Substantia Nigra Pars Compacta SNcSubstantia nigra pars compactaSource of the nigrostriatal dopamine pathway: supports movement and habit learning by feeding the dorsal striatum.
- Substantia Nigra Pars Reticulata SNrSubstantia nigra pars reticulataOne of the two output nuclei of the basal ganglia, together with the GPi: GABAergic neurons that brake the thalamus and…
Nucleus Accumbens NAcc / VSNucleus accumbens septiWhere reward becomes motivation: “wanting”, approach behavior and reinforcement learning.
Ventral Pallidum VPPallidum ventraleThe output for reward “liking” and motivation: relays signals from the nucleus accumbens to the thalamus and brainstem.

Diencephalon 10

Thalamus THThalamusThe gateway to the cortex: filters and relays every sense except smell; regulates wakefulness…
- Anterior Nuclear Group ANNuclei anteriores thalamiThe thalamic station of the Papez circuit: relays information from the mammillary body to the cingulate cortex…
- Mediodorsal Nucleus MDNucleus mediodorsalis thalamiThe thalamic partner of the prefrontal cortex: carries out working memory, decision-making and reward learning together…
- Ventral Anterior Nucleus VANucleus ventralis anterior thalamiA motor planning station that relays basal ganglia output to premotor and prefrontal cortex.
- Ventral Lateral Group (Dorsal Part) VLdPars dorsalis regionis ventralis lateralis thalamiThe dorsal part of the ventral lateral region: the area holding the relay nuclei that pass cerebellar and basal ganglia…
- Ventral Lateral Group (Ventral Part) VLvPars ventralis regionis ventralis lateralis thalamiThe ventral part of the ventral lateral region: an area next to the motor and sensory relay nuclei…
- Central Lateral – Lateral Posterior – Medial Pulvinar CL-LP-MPuNucleus centralis lateralis, nucleus lateralis posterior et pulvinar medialeA group containing the arousal-related intralaminar central lateral nucleus and the lateral posterior and medial…
- Pulvinar PulPulvinar thalamiThe largest thalamic nucleus: regulates visual attention, salience and communication between cortical areas.
Hypothalamus & Pituitary HTHypothalamus et hypophysisThe manager of internal balance: regulates temperature, hunger, sleep, stress and puberty through hormones and the…
Habenula HbNuclei habenularesThe signal of disappointment and avoidance: activates when an expected reward does not come and brakes dopamine and…

Commissures 1

Corpus Callosum CCCorpus callosumThe largest white matter bridge joining the two hemispheres; shares sensory, motor and cognitive information between…

Brainstem 12

Mesencephalon (Midbrain) MidbrainMesencephalonThe source of dopamine: movement (substantia nigra) and reward–motivation (VTA); defense, pain and eye reflexes.
Periaqueductal Gray PAGSubstantia grisea periaquaeductalisGray matter surrounding the aqueduct in the midbrain: the shared output station for defense (fight, flight, freeze)…
Ventral Tegmental Area VTAArea tegmentalis ventralisSource of mesolimbic and mesocortical dopamine: produces the signal for motivation, reward expectation and learning.
Red Nucleus RNNucleus ruberA midbrain station between the cerebellum and the motor system: contributes to movement coordination and motor learning.
Reticular Formation (Mesencephalic and Pontine) mRt / PnOFormatio reticularisThe net-like core of the brainstem: carries the ascending wakefulness signal to the cortex (ARAS)…
Pedunculopontine and Laterodorsal Tegmental Nuclei PPN / LDTNucleus tegmentalis pedunculopontinus et nucleus tegmentalis laterodorsalisThe brainstem’s source of acetylcholine: switches on wakefulness and REM sleep, supports attention and orientation to…
Raphe Nuclei (Dorsal and Median) DR / MnRNucleus raphes dorsalis et nucleus raphes medianusThe main source of serotonin to the forebrain: regulates mood, impulse control, sleep and coping with stress.
Pons PonsPons VaroliiThe bridge between the cortex and the cerebellum; source of noradrenaline (locus coeruleus) and serotonin (raphe)…
Locus Coeruleus LCLocus caeruleusThe brain’s main source of noradrenaline: tunes wakefulness, attention and the stress response.
Parabrachial Complex PBNNuclei parabrachialesThe crossroads for danger signals from the body: relays visceral, taste, pain, temperature and breathlessness…
Medulla Oblongata MOMedulla oblongataVital centers: breathing rhythm, heart and blood pressure, swallowing and vomiting.
Vagal Nuclei DMV / NANucleus dorsalis nervi vagi et nucleus ambiguusThe two parasympathetic outputs in the medulla: the nucleus ambiguus, which regulates the heart and the muscles of the…

Cerebellum 12

Cerebellum CBCerebellumTimes and corrects movement, and applies the same computation to thought, language and emotion.
- Anterior Lobe (Lobules I–V) I–VLobus anterior cerebelliThe sensorimotor anterior lobe of the cerebellum: the first somatotopic map of the trunk and limbs.
- Lobule VI VILobulus simplex (VI)A transitional lobule between sensorimotor and cognitive regions: active in movement, language and attention tasks.
- Crus I Crus ICrus primum lobuli ansiformisThe cognitive core of the cerebellum: forms loops with prefrontal and parietal cortex and supports executive function…
- Crus II Crus IICrus secundum lobuli ansiformisA posterior lobe region involved in social and cognitive processing: connected with mentalizing and executive networks.
- Lobule VIIb VIIbLobulus VIIBA posterior lobe lobule between Crus II and lobule VIII, connected with attention and working memory networks.
- Lobule VIII (VIIIa–VIIIb) VIIILobulus biventer (VIII)The lobule carrying the second sensorimotor body map; also connected with attention networks.
- Lobule IX (Tonsil) IXTonsilla cerebelli (IX)A posterior lobe region connected with the default mode network; its hemispheric part is the cerebellar tonsil.
- Flocculonodular Lobe (Lobule X) XLobus flocculonodularisThe vestibulocerebellum: regulates balance, eye–head coordination and holding gaze steady.
- Posterior Vermis (Lobules VI–IX) VermisVermis cerebelli (lobuli VI–IX)The midline “limbic cerebellum”: linked to emotion regulation, eye movements and autonomic responses.
- Dentate Nucleus DNNucleus dentatusThe largest deep cerebellar nucleus: carries the output of the lateral hemispheres via the thalamus to motor and…
- Interposed Nucleus (Emboliform and Globose) IPNucleus interpositus (emboliformis et globosus)The output of the paravermal region: corrects limb movements on the fly; plays a role in conditioned eyeblink learning.

This page is for education; it must not be used on its own for diagnosis or treatment decisions.

3D model: built from the MNI ICBM152 average brain and the CerebrA, HCP-MMP1.0, CIT168, Harvard AAN, SUIT and Najdenovska thalamus atlases. License details in the atlas.