Cingulum (brain)

In neuroanatomy, the cingulum is a nerve tract – a collection of axons – projecting from the cingulate gyrus to the entorhinal cortex in the brain, allowing for communication between components of the limbic system. It forms the white matter core of the cingulate gyrus, following it from the subcallosal gyrus of the frontal lobe beneath the rostrum of corpus callosum to the parahippocampal gyrus and uncus of the temporal lobe.

Neurons of the cingulum receive afferent fibers from the parts of the thalamus that are associated with the spinothalamic tract. This, in addition to the fact that the cingulum is a central structure in learning to correct mistakes, indicates that the cingulum is involved in appraisal of pain and reinforcement of behavior that reduces it.

Cingulotomy, the surgical severing of the anterior cingulum, is a form of psychosurgery used to treat depression and OCD.

The cingulum was one of the earliest identified brain structures.