Affect and explicit learning

Into a second circuit the affective loop is wired. The anterior cingulate cortex projects to the entorhinal cortex which acts as a path for all neocortical input to the hippocampus. Efferents leave the hippocampus through way of the fornix for the hypothalamus. Output from the mammillary bodies through way of the mammillothalamic tract goes by the anterior thalamic nuclei back to the anterior cingulate cortex. A hypothalamus also has connections with the prefrontal cortex. This Papez circuit was really thought to be the circuit for emotion but the well-build function of the hippocampus in explicit learning that can be consciously recalled, implies in which the Papez circuit has the more restricted role of mediating explicit learning in the during of emotional states for example remembering the location of a hornet’s nest so as to avoid being stung again.