What does the hippocampus do?

The hippocampus (Greek for seahorse, someone’s idea of its shape) is a paired structure, with mirror-image parts on both sides of the brain. Part of the limbic system, it lurks beneath the surface of the temporal lobe. It’s involved in:

• The perception and navigation of space
• Behavioral inhibition
• Memory of experienced events

Its role in memory is important but not clearly defined. Deterioration of the hippocampus can result in age-related memory loss, and damage to it can result in amnesia, both retrograde and anterograde. There’s an interesting Wikipedia entry on an example of what happens when the hippocampus is removed. It reminds me of the movie 50 First Dates.

You’ll note that I omitted any references to hippopotamuses in college. I think my restraint is to be congratulated.