Cortical area · one in each half of the brain
Subiculum
Also called Subicular complex (together with the nearby presubiculum and parasubiculum)
The hippocampus's main exit, sending its processed signals out to the rest of the brain.
The subiculum is the last stop in the hippocampus's processing loop and its main way out. It collects signals from the CA1 zone and sends them onward, both through the fornix to deep brain areas and straight back to the cortex. In rats, some of its cells also keep track of nearby walls and edges. Because it sits at this crossroads, it shapes what the rest of the brain hears from the hippocampus.
Where it is
Right next to the CA1 zone, where the hippocampus meets the nearby cortex. It forms a bridge between the hippocampus and the entorhinal and parahippocampal areas.
What it does
Main exit
It sends most of the hippocampus's output out to the rest of the brain.
Feeding the memory loop
Its fibers travel through the fornix to the mammillary bodies, a key step in a circuit that helps store memories of events and places.
Sensing boundaries
In rats, some of its cells fire whenever the animal is at a certain distance and direction from a wall or edge.
Calming stress
One part of it is thought to help limit the body's stress hormone response and bring it to an end.
Think of it as the dispatch desk of a newsroom, taking the finished stories and sending them out to all the right readers.
Works with
- Cornu Ammonis (CA fields)Its main input comes from CA1, the final zone of the Cornu Ammonis.
- FornixMany of its output fibers leave through the fornix, the hippocampus's main cable.
- Mammillary bodiesIts messages reach the mammillary bodies, which pass memory signals on to the thalamus.
- Entorhinal cortexIt sends signals back to the entorhinal cortex, closing the loop that began there.
- Nucleus accumbensIt sends signals to the nucleus accumbens, a link that is probably involved in learning which actions pay off.
When it goes wrong
Alzheimer's disease
Shrinking of the subicular area can be an early sign of Alzheimer's disease on brain scans. The disease damages cells here and in the entorhinal cortex that link the hippocampus with the rest of the brain, cutting it off from much of its input and output.
Epilepsy
In temporal lobe epilepsy, the subiculum loses fewer cells than the scarred areas next to it. Yet studies of tissue removed during surgery show that epileptic discharges can start here.
For learning only, not medical advice. If you have a health concern, talk to a doctor.
Surprising facts
- Its Latin name means "support", as if it were the stand that the seahorse-shaped hippocampus rests on.
- Some of its cells act like wall detectors: in rats, they fire when a boundary is at a particular distance and direction.
- Neighboring parts of the same complex contain "head direction cells" that fire depending on which way a rat is facing, like a built-in compass.
Where the name comes from
Latin for "support". The name reflects the way it lies under the main part of the hippocampus, like a base the hippocampus rests on.
Quick quiz
3 questions. Your answers are saved and come back in your daily review.
Which of these is a job of the subiculum?
Show the answer
Main exit. It sends most of the hippocampus's output out to the rest of the brain.
Main exit. It sends most of the hippocampus's output out to the rest of the brain.
The subiculum is part of which larger structure?
Show the answer
Hippocampus. It belongs to the hippocampus.
Hippocampus. It belongs to the hippocampus.
Which part fits this description? "Like the dispatch desk of a newsroom, taking the finished stories and sending them out to all the right readers."
Show the answer
Subiculum. It is the subiculum. The hippocampus's main exit, sending its processed signals out to the rest of the brain.
Subiculum. It is the subiculum. The hippocampus's main exit, sending its processed signals out to the rest of the brain.
These parts now come back in your daily review, just before you would forget them.
Practice it and its neighbors in 3DSources
- Subiculum, Radiopaedia
- The Anatomy of the Hippocampus, Cerebral Ischemia (Exon Publications), NCBI Bookshelf
- Neuroanatomy, Mammillary Bodies, StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf
- Role of the Subiculum in Focal Epilepsy, Jasper's Basic Mechanisms of the Epilepsies (5th edition), NCBI Bookshelf
- Boundary vector cells in the subiculum of the hippocampal formation, Journal of Neuroscience
- Alzheimer's disease: cell-specific pathology isolates the hippocampal formation, Science
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