ventromediaalne

Ventromedial, or ventromediaalne in Estonian, is a directional term in neuroanatomy used to describe regions located on the ventral (toward the underside) and medial (toward the midline) aspects of a brain structure. It is a descriptive label for multiple brain areas rather than a single, discrete structure, and its exact boundaries vary across species and anatomical references.

Two well-known ventromedial regions in humans are the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMH). The vmPFC lies in the frontal lobe and is involved in integrating emotion with decision making, evaluating reward and risk, and guiding social behavior. Functional imaging and lesion studies have linked vmPFC activity to moral judgments, impulse control, and value-based choices, with disrupted function affecting emotion regulation and judgment.

The VMH, located in the hypothalamus, is classically associated with energy balance and feeding behavior. Early studies suggested it as a satiety center, with lesions leading to increased food intake in animals; subsequent research emphasizes a distributed network of regions that regulate energy homeostasis, with VMH activity modulating feeding in a context-dependent manner.

In anatomical usage, ventromedial denotes position rather than a single anatomical entity; several nuclei, cortical areas, and subcortical regions may be described as ventromedial. The term is widely used in comparative neuroanatomy to specify location within a structure and is applicable across species, not limited to humans.