The retrosplenial region is a brain area and part of the cingulate cortex

Cingulate cortex

The cingulate cortex is a part of the brain situated in the medial aspect of the cortex. It includes the cortex of the cingulate gyrus, which lies immediately above the corpus callosum, and the continuation of this in the cingulate sulcus...

. It is defined by Brodmann area 26

Brodmann area 26

-Human:In the human this area is called ectosplenial area 26. It is a cytoarchitecturally defined portion of the retrosplenial region of the cerebral cortex. It is a narrow band located in the isthmus of cingulate gyrus adjacent to the fasciolar gyrus internally...

, Brodmann area 29

Brodmann area 29

Brodmann area 29, also known as granular retrolimbic area 29, is a cytoarchitecturally defined portion of the retrosplenial region of the cerebral cortex. In the human it is a narrow band located in the isthmus of cingulate gyrus. Cytoarchitecturally it is bounded internally by the ectosplenial...

 and Brodmann area 30

Brodmann area 30

Brodmann area 30, also known as agranular retrolimbic area 30, is a subdivision of the cytoarchitecturally defined retrosplenial region of the cerebral cortex. In the human it is located in the isthmus of cingulate gyrus...

.

Function

The retrosplenial cortex has dense reciprocal projections with both the anterior thalamic nuclei and the 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...

. In humans, fMRI studies implicate the posterior cingulate region in the recall of episodic

Episodic memory

Episodic memory is the memory of autobiographical events that can be explicitly stated. Semantic and episodic memory together make up the category of declarative memory, which is one of the two major divisions in memory...

 information. The retrosplenial cortex is one of several brain areas that produce anterograde amnesia

Anterograde amnesia

Anterograde amnesia is a loss of the ability to create new memories after the event that caused the amnesia, leading to a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past, while long-term memories from before the event remain intact. This is in contrast to retrograde amnesia, where memories...

when damaged.