hippocampus

Examples of hippocampus in the following topics:

• Neural Correlates of Memory Consolidation

  • The hippocampus, amygdala, and cerebellum play important roles in the consolidation and manipulation of memory.
  • Consolidation occurs through communication between several parts of the brain, including the hippocampus, the amygdala, and the cerebellum.
  • The hippocampus is critical to the formation of memories of events and facts.
  • All this contributes to the idea that the hippocampus may not be crucial in memory retention in the post-consolidation stages.
  • The hippocampus is integral in consolidating memories from short-term to long-term memory.

• The Limbic System

  • There are several important structures within the limbic system: the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia, and cingulate gyrus.
  • Due to its close proximity to the hippocampus, the amygdala is involved in the modulation of memory consolidation, particularly emotionally-laden memories.
  • The hippocampus is found deep in the temporal lobe, and is shaped like a seahorse.
  • Some researchers consider the hippocampus to be responsible for general declarative memory (memories that can be explicitly verbalized, such as memory of facts and episodic memory).
  • This image shows the horned hippocampus deep within the temporal lobe.

• Amnesia

  • Amnesia, the inability to recall certain memories, often results from damage to any of a number of regions in the temporal lobe and hippocampus.
  • Amnesia typically occurs when there is damage to a variety of regions of the temporal lobe or the hippocampus, causing the inability to recall memories before, or after, an (often traumatic) event.
  • Retrograde amnesia is usually caused by head trauma or brain damage to parts of the brain other than the hippocampus (which is involved with the encoding process of new memories).
  • Brain regions related to this condition include the medial temporal lobe, medial diencephalon, and hippocampus.
  • The virus damaged his hippocampus, the area of the brain required in the transfer of memories from short-term to long-term storage.

• Biology of Emotion

  • Its structures include the hypothalamus, thalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus.
  • The hippocampus integrates emotional experience with cognition.
  • The hippocampus is also involved in emotional processing.
  • Individuals suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) show marked reductions in volume in several parts of the hippocampus, which may be the result of decreased levels of neurogenesis and dendritic branching (the generation of new neurons and the generation of new dendrites in existing neurons, respectively) (Wang et al., 2010).
  • Its structures include the hypothalamus, thalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus

• Defining Emotion

  • The limbic system includes the amygdala and the hippocampus and functions as the brain’s emotional circuit.
  • Both the amygdala and the hippocampus play a role in normal emotional processing as well as in mood and anxiety disorders.

• Neural Correlates of Memory Storage

  • The hippocampus is essential for the consolidation of information from short-term to long-term memory; however, it does not seem to store information itself, adding mystery to the question of where memories are stored.
  • The hippocampus receives input from different parts of the cortex and sends output to various areas of the brain.
  • The hippocampus may be involved in changing neural connections for at least three months after information is initially processed.

• Repressed Memories

  • The limbic system is the part of the brain that is in charge of giving emotional significance to sensory inputs; however, the limbic system (particularly one of its components, the hippocampus) is also important to the storage and retrieval of long-term memories.
  • Supporters of the existence of repressed memories hypothesize that because the hippocampus is sensitive to stress hormones and because the limbic system is heavily occupied with the emotions of the event, the memory-encoding functionality may be limited during traumatic events.

• Short-Term and Working Memory

  • This greater retention is owed to an enhanced synaptic response within the hippocampus, which is essential for memory storage.
  • The limbic system of the brain (including the hippocampus and amygdala) is not necessarily directly involved in long-term memory, but it selects particular information from short-term memory and consolidates these memories by playing them like a continuous tape.

• Cerebral Hemispheres and Lobes of the Brain

  • The temporal lobe contains the hippocampus, which is the memory center of the brain.
  • The hippocampus plays a key role in the formation of emotion-laden, long-term memories based on emotional input from the amygdala.

• Other Steps

  • The hippocampus then analyzes the sensations and decides if they are worth committing to long-term memory.