Role of the Hippocampus in Memory

what is the hippocampus’s central role

plays a central role in memory, spatial navigation, emotional regulation and learning

what happens if you damage the hippocampus?

dysfunction or damage to the hippocampus can lead to memory impairments, difficulties in spatial orientation, emotional disturbance and impairements in episodic memory, resulting in difficultis in recalling specific events of ones personal past

describe the hippocampus function in neurogenisis/learning

• neurogenisis - this is the generation of new neurons. the hippocampus is one of the few brain regions where neurogenisis continues through adulthood

• in terms of spatial and contextual learning, the hippocampus is critical for learning association between stimuli and contexts.

• it helps individuals remember where and when specific events occured, facilitating contextual learning

describe the hippocampus function in pattern formation

• the hippocampus is involved in the process of pattern seperation. it helps with the ability to seperate between similar but distinct experiences or memories

• this function is essential for forming unique memory represenations and avoiding interference between memories

describe the hippocampus function in spatial navigation

• the hippocampus is associated with spatial navigation, allowing people to create cognitive maps of their environment

• involved in spatial memory, which is the ability to remember the spatial relationships between objects or locations in the environment

• eg. helps naviagate and remember routes

describe the hippocampus function in emotional regulation

• it interacts with other brain regions, such as the amygdala and prefrontal cortex to regulate emotional processing and memory consolidation

what is the hippocampuses role with memory

• it is the formation, sorting and storage of memory, particularly in conslidation of STM’s and LTM’s

• it is part of the brains limbic system and is involved in the memory processing of spatial and episodic memory

what does the hippocampus do with episodic memory?

it is essential for formation, consolidation and retrieval of episodic memories. episodic memories are typically autobiographical and the hippocampus links the contextual details about the time, place and people involved, emotions felt and other contextual elements associated with the event

what is spatial memory?

refers to the ability to remember and naviagte through spatial environment, including layout of physical spaces, location of objects in the spaces and relationships between different spatial elements

what does the hippocampus help with spatial memory?

• the hippocampus assists you to allow spatial memory to recall the route you need, directions and objects along the way

• remember spatial relationships between objects

• allows to mentally map out route

what are the four key functions of the hippocampus in episodic memory?

1. encoding - it integrates different aspects of an experience (what, where, when) and puts it into a single memory

2. consolidation - stabalizes and stregthens memories overtime by reinforcing neural connections

3. retrieval - it helps recall and reconstruct past experiences, including sensory and emotional details

4. pattern completion - enables the brain to retrieve a full memory with patial or incomplete cues

what is a case study?

• a research method that involves an in depth examination of a particular intance or phenomenon within its real life context

• qualitative and quantitative data

• its aim is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the case and to generate theories that can contribute to broader knowledge

• oftne valued to be rich, detailed and contextually grounded insights that may not be easily ethically obtained through other research methods

strengths and weaknesses of case study

• stregths - rich, detailed data, allows theory development, whole personal view

• weaknesses - limited generalisability, subjectivity and bias, lack of control on variables

who is henry molaison?

he was an american patient who suffered severe epilepsy and underwent brain surgery. as a result, he developed amnesia, loosing the ablity to form LTM while retaining past memories

what was the aim of this case study?

• this was to investigate the role of the hippocampus in memory formation and retrieval

• it wasnt a case study at the start but when the hippocampus, art of a temporal lobes, they realised there was changes with his memory so they made it a case study

what impact did the surgery have on HMs ability to form new memories?

they found that the hippocampus sorts, stores and formulates memory, particularly in consolidation with the STM and LTM. By removing this, he experienced amenisia, losing the ability to form memories while retaining past memories before the surgery

he was however able to perform implicit memories but couldnt recollect how he learnt it, so it showed that it affeted his explicit/declarative memory

what key finidings did this case study of HM provide?

• his condition provided crucial insights into the distinction between types of memories and the neural mechanisms underlying memory process

• it tells us the hippocampus is essential for forming new LTM and declarative but not STM or procedural