The Importance Of The Hippocampus On Human Learning And Memory

1476 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What is the hippocampus role in learning?

What is the hippocampus and why is it so important? What would happen if it got damaged or if it did not exist at all? Does it play a vital role in human learning and memory? These questions and many more have captured the interest of psychologists since 1587 when the hippocampus was first discovered. This seahorse shaped organ, located in the temporal lobe of the brain and making up a portion of the limbic system, is an important section of the brain which should not be overlooked. Through the structure of the hippocampus, one can observe the essential functions it has on memory, learning, and psychological wellness, and can also see the effects it has on human memory and behavior when it is damaged. Without the help of the hippocampus, humans would not be able to function adequately in their environment. In order to learn how the hippocampus operates, one must first understand the structural elements of the organ. By observing the hippocampus, psychologists …show more content…

Because the vast majority of neurogenesis occurs in the hippocampus, it is particularly vulnerable to stress. When the mind endures an increase amount of stress, the hormone cortisol is released throughout the body. High amounts of cortisol in the body will affect the rate at which neurons are increased or decreased in the hippocampus. Large amounts of neuronal activity are needed in order to retain memory, thus when the cortisol assaults the neurons, the hippocampus loses its stability and even size. As the intensity or duration of stress increases, alterations in neurochemicals, synaptic plasticity, neural activity, cytoarchitecture (the composition of cells), and neurogenesis occur in the hippocampus. This “strongly influence subsequent cognitive functions, such as learning and memory, and contributes to psychopathologies.” (Kim et al,

Show More
Related

  • Significant Role of the Hippocampus

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    Eichenbaum, H., Otto, T., & Cohen, N. J. (1992). The hippocampus—what does it do? Behavioral

    Read More

  • Describing the Interaction of the Components of the Autonomic Nervous System in a Relation to the Stress Response

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    McEwen, B. S., & Gianaros, P. J. (2011). Stress-and allostasis-induced brain plasticity. Annual review of medicine, 62, 431-445.

    Read More

  • Hippocampus Essay

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    The hippocampus has been associated with memory formation and consolidation, through lesions studies of bilateral medial temporal lobectomy patients, such as the famously amnesic H.M. In 1971 with the discovery of place cells by O’Keefe and Dostrovsky, spatial navigation was recognised as one of the primary roles of the hippocampus, with their 1978 book ‘The Hippocampus as a Cognitive Map' O’Keefe and Nadel’s hypothesis has since commanded great influence in the field.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Hippocampus And Fear Memory

    835 Words  | 2 Pages

    Various clinical and psychological studies have shown that the hippocampus in the medial temporal lobe is responsible for important learning and memory. In the majority of studies, many researchers propose that the hippocampus is responsible for long-term memory (LTM). LTM impairments occur when damage to bilateral hippocampi are present and can result in anterograde amnesia (difficulty in forming recent memories), retrograde amnesia (difficulty in retrieving memories from the past), or both. However, in this paper, the relationship between the hippocampus and fear memory will be explored explicitly. Understanding the reasoning behind amnesia and the hippocampus is of critical importance in neuroscience.

    Read More

  • Studying for Exams with Memory Mnemonics

    848 Words  | 2 Pages

    You’re a senior in college and you have a huge Chemistry exam coming your way. Studying for an exam can be very difficult to remember every little thing. Memory Mnemonics is a certain way of studying and remembering things. According to Patten “Using this system, verbal memory increased dramatically”. (Patten, 1 ) It tells us that the Mnemonic system is inspiring and growing rapidly at the college level. Mnemonics uses techniques of rhymes, acronyms, diagrams, which help people to remember names, dates, facts, figures, and more. In this paper I plan to use the Mnemonics system to tell if this system actually works. Your memory is stored in the hippocampus, which is the area that they call sea horsed area of your brain, which is in the middle of your brain. When you think about a memory, different parts of your brain become more stimulated to recreate the scene. Some ways that the brain remembers things are using some of your five sense and more, such as color, smell, taste, touch, feelings, and shapes. “People do NOT remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they see, 30% of what they hear, etc…”( Thalheimer,2006).

    Read More

  • What Is The Effects Of Adverse Childhood Experiences?

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    The majority of brain development occurs during the first few years of life. Although genetics provide the basic blueprint for the brain, one’s experiences lay the foundation for future interactions, health, learning, and behavior. Developing the capacity and resources to cope with stress is a significant part of a child’s early development (Felitti et al., 1998 and Anda et al., 2006).

    Read More

  • Hippocampus Essay

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, scientists are beginning to uncover that stress can also inhibit the plasticity and neurogenesis within the hippocampus. By inhibiting these processes, stress can negatively influence the mechanism responsible for memory consolidation in the brain. These effects, if not treated promptly with suitable sleep, could have harmful and damaging effects on nerve cells in the hippocampus. By identifying these effects within sleep deprivation, scientists can formulate new effective drugs and mechanisms to enhance memory impairment caused by sleep loss.

    Read More

  • The Early Years: The Effects of Nurturance During Childhood on Development

    1578 Words  | 4 Pages

    From the time of conception, a child’s brain begins to develop and the nurturing or neglectful experiences that parents provide the child can dramatically influence his or her neurological development. As Farah et al. (2008) and Lupien et al. (2000) found, a high stress environment often leads to the develop...

    Read More

  • Exploring the Intricate Link Between Memory and the Brain

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to these two cases, these inspire us to understand that the hippocampus is an important brain region that is used for converting short-term memory into long-term memory.

    Read More

  • Memory Is a Reconstruction: Myth or Truth?

    1236 Words  | 3 Pages

    Definition of memory and it's functions is difficult to illustrate by a single sentence. Consequently we use several metaphors to describe memory implicitly. Our beliefs, perceptions and imagination influence memory. The fact gave rise to memory being described as a reconstructive process, explaining that memory is not an exact record of a particular experience. Instead we bring various components together and fill in the blanks with our predisposed schemas while recalling. The metaphor building "an entire dinosaur skeleton from fossils" is the indirect way to describe memory as cognitive reconstruction. Remembering includes using schemas which are the mental representations of a concept, person or an event.They rejuvenate an incomplete memory such that it is perceived to be an undiminished one. Of course there are errors experienced when recalling which supports the idea of imperfect memory. These can be errors of commission, adding details which were not a part of the experience and errors of omission, which is excluding some aspects of the experience. In this paper I will support the selected metaphor and will provide evidence approving it.

    Read More

  • The Brain: The Negative Effects Of Damage To The Brain

    1231 Words  | 3 Pages

    The brains of children are still developing; however, constant stressful conditions can stun or slow down the development of the brain. Furthermore, high levels of cortisol have shown to convert the stems cells present in the brain to mature into oligodendrocytes, a type of glial cell responsible for producing the myelin sheath (a type of fatty covering for the nerve cells), instead of maturing into mature neurons or astrocytes. Even though myelin sheath is important, astrocytes are needed for the formation of connections to the prefrontal cortex. Therefore, resulting in issues with memory and learning. Additionally, high levels of cortisol have shown to destroy the nerve cells present in the hippocampus resulting in a decrease in size. Consequently, these children suffer intellectual, memory, and spatial learning

    Read More

  • Case Study Of Henry Molaison

    1412 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hippocampus plays an important job in the formation of new memories about experienced events such as the episodic or the autobiographical memory. It is also a part of larger medial temporal lobe memory system responsible for general declarative memory. General declarative memory is a type of memories that can be explicitly verbalized. If damage to hippocampus occurs only in one hemisphere, our brain can still retain near-normal memory functioning. But even so the hippocampus is damage; some types of memory such as abilities to learn new skills will not be affected. The reason is because, some abilities depends on different types of memory and different regions of the brain such as procedural memory. Hippocampus also plays role in spatial memory and navigation. Many hippocampal neurons have “place fields” and the discovery of place cells in 1970’s led to the theory that hippocampus might act as cognitive

    Read More

  • Stress-Induced Psychosomatic Illness

    1793 Words  | 4 Pages

    Kumar, Anil, Puneet Rinwa, Gurleen Kaur, and Lalit Machawal. "Stress: Neurobiology, consequences, and management." Journal of Pharmacy and Bioallied Sciences, 2013: 1-7.

    Read More

  • The Relationship between Learning and Memory

    1663 Words  | 4 Pages

    Learning to tie shoes and ride a bike requires the encoding, storing, and retrieving of past observations of the procedure. With a lot of practice, children master these skills so well that they are able to remember them the rest of their lives. Memory is the storing of information over time. It is one of the most important concepts in learning; if things are not remembered, no learning can take place. As a process, memory refers to the "dynamic mechanism associated with the retention and retrieval of information about past experiences" (Sternberg 260). We use our memory about the past to help us understand the present. The study or memory in psychology is used in different ways, as well as there are many different ways to study how memory works in humans. In psychology there are many tasks used to measure memory, and different types of memory storages that human's use, such as sensory storing, or short term storing. There are also a lot of techniques that humans use to improve their memory, which they can use to learn, such as mnemonic devices. All these things can be classified as important issues in the study of human memory and ways of learning.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Brain Plasticity

    1411 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through practice, having new experiences and even environmental stimulation, we can change the brain’s physical structure. For example, if you are learning a new skill, like learning how to shoot a basketball, visual changes in the brain can be seen in brain scans. Connections in our brains can get stronger or can be lost depending on our experiences and what skills we practice. Neurons that are used often develop strong connections, while neurons that are never or hardly used can eventually die off. Knowing that our brains are capable of learning new things and that our brains are not fixed at birth has challenged the idea that you can’t teach an old dog new

    Read More

More about The Importance Of The Hippocampus On Human Learning And Memory

Open Document