Archicortex is categorized under allocortex

Allocortex

The allocortex is a part of the cerebral cortex characterized by fewer cell layers than the neocortex The allocortex (also known as heterogenetic cortex) is a part of the cerebral cortex characterized by fewer cell layers than the neocortex The allocortex (also known as heterogenetic cortex) is a...

. It is any cortex

Cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex is a sheet of neural tissue that is outermost to the cerebrum of the mammalian brain. It plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. It is constituted of up to six horizontal layers, each of which has a different...

 with fewer than six layers, specifically three layered hippocampal cortexes. It is necessary for hippocampus

Hippocampus

The hippocampus is a major component of the brains of humans and other vertebrates. It belongs to the limbic system and plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory and spatial navigation. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in...

 formation.

The archicortex is a portion of the cerebral cortex

Cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex is a sheet of neural tissue that is outermost to the cerebrum of the mammalian brain. It plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. It is constituted of up to six horizontal layers, each of which has a different...

 that, with the paleocortex

Paleocortex

The paleocortex is a layer of the cerebral cortex intermediate phylogenetically between the neocortex and archicortex.; contains 3-5 layers.Paleocortex includes anterior olfactory nucleus, anterior perforated substance, prepyriform area and periamygdalar area....

, develops in association with the olfactory system

Olfaction

Olfaction is the sense of smell. This sense is mediated by specialized sensory cells of the nasal cavity of vertebrates, and, by analogy, sensory cells of the antennae of invertebrates...

, and which is phylogenetically

Phylogenetics

In biology, phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary relatedness among groups of organisms , which is discovered through molecular sequencing data and morphological data matrices...

 older than the neocortex and lacks its layered structure. The embryonic archicortex corresponds to the cortex of the dentate gyrus and hippocampus in mature mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

s. Being part of the limbic system

Limbic system

The limbic system is a set of brain structures including the hippocampus, amygdala, anterior thalamic nuclei, septum, limbic cortex and fornix, which seemingly support a variety of functions including emotion, behavior, long term memory, and olfaction. The term "limbic" comes from the Latin...

, it has functions related to emotion

Emotion

Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...

s and formation of memory. Signals being sent from the limbic lobe

Limbic lobe

The limbic lobe is an arc-shaped region of cortex on the medial surface of each cerebral hemisphere of the mammalian brain, consisting of parts of the frontal, parietal and temporal lobes...

 to the hippocampal formations can go via the archicortex as an intermediate.

See also

• Paralimbic cortex
  Paralimbic cortex
  The paralimbic cortex is an area of three-layered cortex that consists of the following structures: the pyriform cortex, entorhinal cortex, and parahippocampal cortex on the medial surface of the temporal lobe, and the cingulate cortex just above the corpus callosum. The paralimbic cortex lies...