Hippocampus in the context of "Lynn Nadel"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Hippocampus in the context of "Lynn Nadel"

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Hippocampus

The hippocampus (pl.: hippocampi; via Latin from Greek ἱππόκαμπος, 'seahorse'), also hippocampus proper, is a major component of the brain of humans and many other vertebrates. In the human brain the hippocampus, the dentate gyrus, and the subiculum are components of the hippocampal formation located in the limbic system. The hippocampus plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory, and in spatial memory that enables navigation. In humans and other primates the hippocampus is located in the archicortex, one of the three regions of allocortex, in each hemisphere with direct neural projections to, and reciprocal indirect projections from the neocortex. The hippocampus, as the medial pallium, is a structure found in all vertebrates.

In Alzheimer's disease (and other forms of dementia), the hippocampus is one of the first regions of the brain to be damaged; short-term memory loss and disorientation are included among the early symptoms. Damage to the hippocampus can also result from oxygen starvation (hypoxia), encephalitis, or medial temporal lobe epilepsy. People with extensive, bilateral hippocampal damage may experience anterograde amnesia: the inability to form and retain new memories.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier

Hippocampus in the context of Neural pathway

In neuroanatomy, a neural pathway is the connection formed by axons that project from neurons to make synapses onto neurons in another location, to enable neurotransmission (the sending of a signal from one region of the nervous system to another). Neurons are connected by a single axon, or by a bundle of axons known as a nerve tract, or fasciculus. Shorter neural pathways are found within grey matter in the brain, whereas longer projections, made up of myelinated axons, constitute white matter.

In the hippocampus, there are neural pathways involved in its circuitry including the perforant pathway, that provides a connectional route from the entorhinal cortex to all fields of the hippocampal formation, including the dentate gyrus, all CA fields (including CA1), and the subiculum.

↑ Return to Menu

Hippocampus in the context of Cerebrum

The cerebrum (pl.: cerebra), telencephalon or endbrain is the largest part of the brain, containing the cerebral cortex (of the two cerebral hemispheres) as well as several subcortical structures, including the hippocampus, basal ganglia, and olfactory bulb. In the human brain, the cerebrum is the uppermost region of the central nervous system. The cerebrum develops prenatally from the forebrain (prosencephalon). In mammals, the dorsal telencephalon, or pallium, develops into the cerebral cortex, and the ventral telencephalon, or subpallium, becomes the basal ganglia. The cerebrum is also divided into approximately symmetric left and right cerebral hemispheres.

With the assistance of the cerebellum, the cerebrum controls all voluntary actions in the human body.

↑ Return to Menu

Hippocampus in the context of Allocortex

The allocortex (from Latin allo-, meaning other, and cortex, meaning bark or crust), or heterogenetic cortex, is one of the two types of cerebral cortex in the brain, together with the neocortex. In the human brain, the allocortex is the much smaller area of cortex taking up just 10%; the neocortex takes up the remaining 90%. It is characterized by having just three cortical layers (one main neural layer), in contrast with the six cortical layers of the neocortex. There are three subtypes of allocortex: the paleocortex, the archicortex, and the periallocortex—a transitional zone between the neocortex and the allocortex.

The specific regions of the brain usually described as belonging to the allocortex are the olfactory system and the hippocampus.

↑ Return to Menu

Hippocampus in the context of Cell type

A cell type is a classification used to identify cells that share morphological or phenotypical features. A multicellular organism may contain cells of a number of widely differing and specialized cell types, such as muscle cells and skin cells, that differ both in appearance and function yet have identical genomic sequences. Cells may have the same genotype, but belong to different cell types due to the differential regulation of the genes they contain. Classification of a specific cell type is often done through the use of microscopy (such as those from the cluster of differentiation family that are commonly used for this purpose in immunology). Recent developments in single cell RNA sequencing facilitated classification of cell types based on shared gene expression patterns. This has led to the discovery of many new cell types in e.g. mouse grey matter, hippocampus, dorsal root ganglion and spinal cord.

Animals have evolved a greater diversity of cell types in a multicellular body (100–150 different cell types), comparedwith 10–20 in plants, fungi, and protists. The exact number of cell types is, however, undefined, and the Cell Ontology, as of 2021, lists over 2,300 different cell types.

↑ Return to Menu

Hippocampus in the context of Entorhinal cortex

The entorhinal cortex (EC) is an area of the brain's allocortex, located in the medial temporal lobe, whose functions include being a widespread network hub for memory, navigation, and the perception of time. The EC is the main interface between the hippocampus and neocortex. The EC-hippocampus system plays an important role in declarative (autobiographical/episodic/semantic) memories and in particular spatial memories including memory formation, memory consolidation, and memory optimization in sleep. The EC is also responsible for the pre-processing (familiarity) of the input signals in the reflex nictitating membrane response of classical trace conditioning; the association of impulses from the eye and the ear occurs in the entorhinal cortex.

↑ Return to Menu

Hippocampus in the context of Hippocampal formation

The hippocampal formation is a compound structure in the medial temporal lobe of the brain. It forms a c-shaped bulge on the floor of the inferior horn of the lateral ventricle. Typically, the hippocampal formation is said to included the dentate gyrus, the hippocampus, and the subiculum. The presubiculum, parasubiculum, and the entorhinal cortex may also be included. The hippocampal formation is thought to play a role in memory, spatial navigation and control of attention. The neural layout and pathways within the hippocampal formation are very similar in all mammals.

↑ Return to Menu

Hippocampus in the context of Dentate gyrus

The dentate gyrus (DG) is one of the subfields of the hippocampus, in the hippocampal formation. The hippocampal formation is located in the temporal lobe of the brain, and includes the hippocampus (including CA1 to CA4) subfields, and other subfields including the dentate gyrus, subiculum, and presubiculum.

The dentate gyrus is part of the trisynaptic circuit, a neural circuit of the hippocampus, thought to contribute to the formation of new episodic memories, the spontaneous exploration of novel environments and other functions. The dentate gyrus has toothlike projections from which it is named.

↑ Return to Menu

Hippocampus in the context of Hippocampus proper

The hippocampal subfields are four subfields CA1, CA2, CA3, and CA4 that make up the structure of the hippocampus. Regions described in the hippocampus are the head, body, and tail, and other hippocampal subfields include the dentate gyrus, the presubiculum, and the subiculum. The CA subfields use the initials of cornu ammonis, an earlier name of the hippocampus.

↑ Return to Menu