The mammillary bodies and memory: more than a hippocampal relay

Although the mammillary bodies were one of the first neural structures to be implicated in memory, it has long been assumed that their main function was to act primarily as a hippocampal relay, passing information on to the anterior thalamic nuclei and from there to the cingulate cortex. This view not only afforded the mammillary bodies no independent role in memory, it also neglected the potential significance of other, nonhippocampal, inputs to the mammillary bodies. Recent advances have transformed the picture, revealing that projections from the tegmental nuclei of Gudden, and not the hippocampal formation, are critical for sustaining mammillary body function. By uncovering a role for the mammillary bodies that is independent of its subicular inputs, this work signals the need to consider a wider network of structures that form the neural bases of episodic memory.