Related topics: memory , brain , neurons , learning , rats
Hippocampus
hideThe hippocampus is a major component of the brains of humans and other mammals. It belongs to the limbic system and plays important roles in long-term memory and spatial navigation. Like the cerebral cortex, with which it is closely associated, it is a paired structure, with mirror-image halves in the left and right sides of the brain. In humans and other primates, the hippocampus is located inside the medial temporal lobe, beneath the cortical surface. Its curved shape reminded early anatomists of the horns of a ram (Cornu Ammonis), or a seahorse. The name, in fact, was taken by the sixteenth century anatomist Julius Caesar Aranzi from the Greek word for seahorse (Greek: ιππος, hippos = horse, καμπος, kampos = sea monster).
In Alzheimer's disease the hippocampus is one of the first regions of the brain to suffer damage; memory problems and disorientation appear among the first symptoms. Damage to the hippocampus can also result from oxygen starvation (hypoxia), encephalitis, or medial temporal lobe epilepsy. People with extensive hippocampal damage may experience amnesia—the inability to form or retain new memories.
In rodents, the hippocampus has been studied extensively as part of the brain system responsible for spatial memory and navigation. Many neurons in the rat and mouse hippocampus respond as place cells: that is, they fire bursts of action potentials when the animal passes through a specific part of its environment. Hippocampal place cells interact extensively with head direction cells, whose activity acts as an inertial compass, and with grid cells in the neighboring entorhinal cortex.
Because of its densely packed layers of neurons, the hippocampus has frequently been used as a model system for studying neurophysiology. The form of neural plasticity known as long-term potentiation (LTP) was first discovered to occur in the hippocampus and has often been studied in this structure. LTP is widely believed to be one of the main neural mechanisms by which memory is stored in the brain.
For more information about Hippocampus, read the full article at
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News tagged with hippocampus
Nerve-cell transplants help brain-damaged rats fully recover lost ability to learn
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Dec 09, 2009 |
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Nerve cells transplanted into brain-damaged rats helped them to fully recover their ability to learn and remember, probably by promoting nurturing, protective growth factors, according to a new study.
Don't I know you? Research sheds light on memorial retrieval
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Dec 07, 2009 |
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We have all had the embarrassing experience of seeing an acquaintance in an unfamiliar setting. We know we know them but can't recall who they are. But with the correct cues from conversation or context, something seems ...
To make memories, new neurons must erase older ones
Nov 12, 2009 |
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Short-term memory may depend in a surprising way on the ability of newly formed neurons to erase older connections. That's the conclusion of a report in the November 13th issue of the journal Cell that provid ...
New discovery about the formation of new brain cells
Nov 23, 2009 |
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The generation of new nerve cells in the brain is regulated by a peptide known as C3a, which directly affects the stem cells' maturation into nerve cells and is also important for the migration of new nerve cells through ...
Acute stress leaves epigenetic marks on the hippocampus
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Nov 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists are learning that the dynamic regulation of genes -- as much as the genes themselves -- shapes the fate of organisms. Now the discovery of a new epigenetic mechanism regulating genes in the brain ...
Smart rat 'Hobbie-J' produced by over-expressing a gene that helps brain cells communicate
Oct 19, 2009 |
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Over-expressing a gene that lets brain cells communicate just a fraction of a second longer makes a smarter rat, report researchers from the Medical College of Georgia and East China Normal University.
Alzheimer's researchers find high protein diet shrinks brain
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 20, 2009 |
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One of the many reasons to pick a low-calorie, low-fat diet rich in vegetables, fruits, and fish is that a host of epidemiological studies have suggested that such a diet may delay the onset or slow the progression of Alzheimer's ...
Birds in captivity lose hippocampal mass
Oct 12, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Being in captivity for just a few weeks can reduce the volume of the hippocampus by as much as 23 percent, according to a new Cornell study.
Meditation increases brain gray matter
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
May 12, 2009 |
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Push-ups, crunches, gyms, personal trainers -- people have many strategies for building bigger muscles and stronger bones. But what can one do to build a bigger brain? Meditate.
Rats' mental 'instant replay' drives next moves
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Aug 26, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have found that rats use a mental instant replay of their actions to help them decide what to do next, shedding new light on how ...
'Mind-reading' experiment highlights how brain records memories
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Mar 12, 2009 |
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It may be possible to "read" a person's memories just by looking at brain activity, according to research carried out by Wellcome Trust scientists. In a study published today in the journal Current Biology, they show that o ...
Study finds how brain remembers single events
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Mar 18, 2009 |
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Single events account for many of our most vivid memories - a marriage proposal, a wedding toast, a baby's birth. Until a recent UC Irvine discovery, however, scientists knew little about what happens inside the brain that ...
Theory about long and short-term memory questioned
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 09, 2009 |
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The long-held theory that our brains use different mechanisms for forming long-term and short-term memories has been challenged by new research from UCL, published today in PNAS.
CIA's 'Enhanced Interrogation' Techniques Were Counterproductive
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Sep 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The author of a new report suggests the belief that harsh interrogation and torture techniques are effective is a form of folk neuroscience that is not supported by scientific evidence, and does not fit with ...
An end to sleep problems? Researchers discover enzyme behind effects of sleep deprivation
Nov 26, 2009 |
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There is hope for those who miss one night too many or whose children keep them up at night. The unwelcome effects of a bad night's sleep - forgetfulness, impaired mental performance - can be dealt with by reducing the concentration ...
