The limbic system is a group of brain structures located on the medial side of the brain involved in emotion, motivation and memory. It contains cortical structures like the orbitofrontal cortex, cingulate cortex and parahippocampal gyrus as well as subcortical structures like the hippocampus, amygdala, accumbens nucleus and septal nuclei. The hippocampus plays a key role in memory formation and retrieval, while the amygdala is important for emotional processing and memory consolidation involves the basal and septal nuclei.