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Brain: Internal capsule
Horizontal section of right cerebral hemisphere. (Capsula interna labeled at upper left.)
The motor tract.
Latin	capsula interna
Gray's	subject #189 836
NeuroNames	hier-180
Dorlands/Elsevier	c_07/12211417

The internal capsule is an area of white matter in the brain that separates the caudate nucleus and the thalamus from the lenticular nucleus.

It consists of axonal fibres that run between the cerebral cortex and the pyramids of the medulla.

Contents 1 Components 2 Fibers 3 Blood supply 4 Pathology 5 Additional images 6 External links

The internal capsule is V-shaped when cut both coronally (on the same plane as the face) and horizontally/transversely (the same plane as the brim of a top hat).

When cut horizontally:

• the bend in the V is called the "genu".

• the part in front of the genu is the "anterior limb". or crus anterius.

• the part behind the genu is called the "posterior limb" or crus posterius.

There is also a retrolenticular and a sublenticular part to the internal capsule.

• The posterior limb of the internal capsule contains corticospinal fibers and sensory fibers from the body.

• The genu contains corticobulbar fibers, which run between the cortex and the brainstem.

• The anterior limb of the internal capsule contains:
  • 1) frontopontine (corticofugal) fibers project from frontal cortex to pons;
  • 2) thalamocortico fibers connect the medial and anterior nuclei of the thalamus to the frontal lobes (these are severed during a prefrontal lobotomy).

• The retrolenticular part contains fibers from the optic system, coming from the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus. More posteriorly, this becomes the optic radiation. Some fibers from the medial geniculate nucleus (which carry auditory information) also pass in the retrolenticular internal capsule, but most are in the sublenticular part.

Blood supply is similar to the other structures of the region. Striate arteries, which come off the middle cerebral artery, enter through the anterior perforated substance in the base of the brain.

Infarctions to the internal capsule tend to be small, punctate lesions.

They can affect sensory and motor systems on the opposite side of the body, and possibly eyesight (to the contralateral visual field).

Hearing should not be affected in a single capsule lesion, as this information crosses over to both sides of the brain while in the brainstem.

Deep dissection of brain-stem. Lateral view.	Superficial dissection of brain-stem. Ventral view.	Coronal section of brain immediately in front of pons.	Coronal section of brain through intermediate mass of third ventricle.
Section of brain showing upper surface of temporal lobe.	Coronal section through anterior cornua of lateral ventricles.	Coronal section of brain through anterior commissure.	Dissection showing the course of the cerebrospinal fibers.

• BrainMaps at UCDavis internal capsule
• NeuroNames hier-180
• Roche Lexicon - illustrated navigator, at Elsevier 13048.000-2

v • d • e Brain: telencephalon (cerebrum, cerebral cortex, cerebral hemispheres)
Primary sulci/fissures	Medial longitudinal, Lateral, Central, Parietoöccipital, Calcarine, Cingulate, Callosal Collateral fissure
Frontal lobe	Precentral gyrus (Primary motor cortex, 4), Precentral sulcus, Superior frontal gyrus/Frontal eye fields (6, 8, 9), Middle frontal gyrus (46), Inferior frontal gyrus (44-Pars opercularis, 45-Pars triangularis), Orbitofrontal cortex (10, 11, 12, 47)
Parietal lobe	Somatosensory cortex (Primary (1, 2, 3, 43), Secondary (5)), Precuneus (7m), Parietal lobules (Arcuate fasciculus/Superior (7l), Inferior (40)), Angular gyrus (39), Intraparietal sulcus, Marginal sulcus
Occipital lobe	Primary visual cortex (17), Cuneus, Lingual gyrus, 18, 19 - Lateral occipital sulcus
Temporal lobe	Primary auditory cortex (41, 42), Superior temporal gyrus (38, 22), Middle temporal gyrus (21), Inferior temporal gyrus (20), Fusiform gyrus (37) Medial temporal lobe (Amygdala, Hippocampus, Parahippocampal gyrus (27, 28, 34, 35, 36)
Cingulate cortex/gyrus	Subgenual area (25), anterior cingulate (24, 32, 33), Posterior cingulate (23, 31), Retrosplenial cortex (26, 29, 30), Supracallosal gyrus
white matter tracts	Corpus callosum (Splenium, Genu, Rostrum, Tapetum), Septum pellucidum, Internal capsule, Corona radiata, External capsule, Olfactory tract, Fornix (Commissure of fornix), Anterior commissure, Posterior commissure Terminal stria Superior and Inferior longitudinal fasciculus, uncinate fasciculus, cingulum, Inferior occipitofrontal fasciculus
Basal ganglia	Striatum (Putamen,Caudate nucleus, Nucleus accumbens), Globus pallidus, Claustrum, Subthalamic nucleus, Substantia nigra
Other	Insular cortex Olfactory bulb, Anterior olfactory nucleus Septal nuclei Basal optic nucleus of Meynert
Some categorizations are approximations, and some Brodmann areas span gyri.