fornix

(for′niks )

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(for′nĭ-sēz)
pl. fornices [L. fornix, stem fornic-, vault, arch]

1. A thick axon tract that originates in the hippocampus and synapses in the septum and the hypothalamus, esp., in the mammillary bodies. The fornix, a major component of the limbic circuit, receives its name from the broad arch that it makes along the hidden inner edge of the cerebral cortex, under the corpus callosum.
SEE: limbic system for illus
2. Any vaultlike or arched body.

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