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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?
encoding - it integrates different aspects of an experience (what, where, when) and puts it into a single memory
consolidation - stabalizes and stregthens memories overtime by reinforcing neural connections
retrieval - it helps recall and reconstruct past experiences, including sensory and emotional details
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
