limbic

American  

[lim-bik] / ˈlɪm bɪk /

adjective

1. pertaining to or of the nature of a limbus or border; marginal.

---

Etymology

Origin of limbic

First recorded in 1880–85; limb(us) ² + -ic

Explanation

The adjective limbic describes a brain system that is largely responsible for regulating emotions. The limbic system is also where we form a lot of our memories. Limbic derives from the Latin limbus, or "edge," and it's used to describe anatomical structures that border another part. In the case of the brain, the limbic system sits along the edge of both sides of the thalamus. When it comes to emotions, your limbic system is crucial, since it regulates how you feel and how you react to those feelings, as well as affecting the way you learn, remember, and even how you identify odors.

Example Sentences

Somewhere deep in the limbic system, a synapse fires like a flare, tracing the old circuitry of migration and memory — that annual pull toward the wide-open deserts of the American Southwest.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2026

In particular, they report, lower serotonin transporter levels were found in cortical, limbic, and subcortical regions of the brains in those with MCI, areas specifically responsible for executive function, emotion, and memory.

From Science Daily • Dec. 7, 2023

In this process, our limbic system is activated and overrides our frontal lobe.

From Salon • Oct. 26, 2023

And the nerve stimulation also activates parts of the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in regulating the limbic regions of the brain that control emotion.

From Scientific American • Jul. 4, 2023

That is why our brainstem is surrounded by the R-complex, then the limbic system and finally the cerebral cortex.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan