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.
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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.
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 ...
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 ...
Rodent smoke screen
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Dec 08, 2009 |
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Rats passively exposed to tobacco smoke become dependent on nicotine, according to a new study by Dr. Adrie Bruijnzeel and colleagues from the University of Florida in the US. Their findings of how rats' brains respond to ...
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Study reveals chemo's toxicity to brain, possible treatment
Dec 17, 2009 |
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Researchers have developed a novel animal model showing that four commonly used chemotherapy drugs disrupt the birth of new brain cells, and that the condition could be partially reversed with the growth factor IGF-1.
Scientists decode memory-forming brain cell conversations
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Dec 16, 2009 |
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The conversations neurons have as they form and recall memories have been decoded by Medical College of Georgia scientists.
Higher levels of protein hormone associated with lower risk of dementia, Alzheimer's disease
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Persons with higher levels of leptin, a protein hormone produced by fat cells and involved in the regulation of appetite, may have an associated reduced incidence of Alzheimer disease and dementia, according to a study in ...
Brain imaging shows kids' PTSD symptoms linked to poor hippocampus function
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Dec 08, 2009 |
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Psychological trauma leaves a trail of damage in a child's brain, say scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. Their new study gives the first direct evidence that children ...
With amino acid diet, mice improve after brain injury
Dec 07, 2009 |
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Neurology researchers have shown that feeding amino acids to brain-injured animals restores their cognitive abilities and may set the stage for the first effective treatment for cognitive impairments suffered by people with ...
Scientists identify strategies to protect new brain cells against Alzheimer's disease
Dec 03, 2009 |
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Stimulating the growth of new neurons to replace those lost in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an intriguing therapeutic possibility. But will the factors that cause AD allow the new neurons to thrive and function normally? Scientists ...
3 Questions: Suzanne Corkin on the world's most famous amnesic
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Dec 01, 2009 |
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H.M., the well-known amnesic patient whose condition helped scientists understand memory and memory impairment, died a year ago at the age of 82. H.M. (whose full name, Henry Gustav Molaison, was disclosed ...
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