Functions of the limbic system in the brain

Functions of the limbic system are analyzed based on previously published ideas that all hierarchical levels of the nervous system are built according to the same functional principles: each level is a learning system that contains a model of object behavior and receives two types of afferent signals: initiating and informational. It is shown how each limbic hierarchical level adds new controlling abilities to the system by using the available surrounding visceral and somatic automatisms. Each of these levels has its own control specificity and semantics of afferent and efferent signals. The control system, its controlled object, the corresponding initiating and informational inputs, etc., are described for each hierarchical level.