A 3D video from diffusion MRI tractography data captured with GE’s Experimental (Research) Advanced Brain Microstructure MRI Scanner in a healthy subject that shows the major white matter bundles of the limbic system.

The limbic system is a set of brain structures responsible for various functions including emotion, motivation, and memory. It connects parts of the pre-frontal cortex to the hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, and amygdala in the temporal lobe, and to subcortical areas in the hypothalamus.

Visualizing white matter and limbic system in this way could yield new insights in the treatment of various brain illnesses and disorders, including Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI), Alzheimer’s Disease, neuropsychiatric disease and cognitive impairment.

Represented in the video loop are the long association bundles that form the principal structural connections of the limbic system: the cingulum bundles, the fornix, and the stria terminalis. Also displayed is the anterior commissure, a long commissural white matter tract that extends from the right to the left temporal lobes.

Video courtesy of Dr. Vincent Ho, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

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