The anterior nuclei receive afferents from the hippocampus and subiculum directly via the fornix, and indirectly via the mammillary bodies and mammillothalamic tract (MTT).

[3] These nuclei are thought to play a role in the modulation of alertness and are involved in learning and episodic memory.

The anterior thalamic nuclei (ATN) are recently thought to be connected in pathways serving a spatial navigation role in reference to propagating head movements.

The ATN displays bidirectional connections with the postsubiculum, a hippocampal structure in humans involved in regulating signaling relative to the movement of the head in the horizontal plane.

Ultimately, the firing sequences of these cells encode information allowing an animal to perceive its direction in relation to its spatial environment.