Hippocampus In Social Memory

Given the supposed role of the hippocampal system in encoding memory in long-term stores, researchers have eagerly tried to address this issue using PET and fMRI. One way in which they attempted to find evidence to support this involved face encoding and recognition in episodic memory. Episodic memory encoding is the process by which the experience of an event is

The amygdala specializes in threat detection, fear, excitement, and arousal, hippocampus helps format long-term declarative memories and spatial reasoning. The anterior cingulate cortex influences autonomic function, decision making, error detection and emotion while the posterior has a role in spatial annotations memory. The septal area produces pleasurable feeling,

Smells connection to emotion was also discussed, it turned out to be molecules with receptor signals capable of triggering memory through the olfactory part of our brain and the hippocampus, the site of memory

These elongated ridges assist with our autonomic nervous system and storing. This limbic system structure is important in forming new memories and connecting our emotions and senses. Smell and sound can be connected by the hippocompus. Our hippocompus acts as a memory indexer sending these memories to the appropriate parts of the cerebellum for long-term storage and can be retrieved if deemed nessecary for functions such as unification of

The temporal lobe consists of the hippocampal region as well as the the entorhinal, perirhinal and parahippocampal cortices which are important for long-term memory. The hippocampal region consists of the hippocampus proper, the dentate gyrus and the subicular complex. The entorhinal cortex receives most of its input from the perirhinal and parahippocampal cortices as well as inputs from the olfactory bulb, orbital frontal cortex, insular cortex, cingulate cortex and superior temporal gyrus (Squire & Zola,

Two structures in the brain work independently and with each other to impact memory and emotions: the amygdala and the hippocampus. The amygdala is linked to fear-conditioning, while the hippocampus is linked to episodic memories, which are those memories that a person can recall whenever wanted [1]. An experiment was performed to demonstrate the independence of the two structures from each other which involved patients with lesions in the amygdala and patients with lesions in the hippocampus. Researchers designed a fear-condition wherein a blue patch applied to the wrist initiated a shock. They found that patients with lesions in the amygdala had no physiological response to the conditioned stimulus (the blue patch) [2], whereas patients with lesions in the hippocampus demonstrated appropriate

Of these regions, the left and right anterior temporal lobes (ATL) were the most relevant. The ATL houses the amygdala as well as the anterior hippocampus (AH), which work together to regulate emotions and memory. Following attempts to locate distinct regions within the ATL related to AT, they found that the right dorsal amygdala, which includes the central nucleus of amygdala (CeA), the amygdalostriatal transition zone (ASTZ), and the left hippocampus showed the highest predictability of AT from FDG-PET voxels. A voxelwise map which assessed serotonin transporter density (which is higher in CeA than the AH) was used in order to assess the spatial division between the two regions and their predictiveness of AT. The results did show a significant division between the two predictive areas, thereby showing spatial dissociation. Pedigree and phenotype analysis found that AT phenotype was a heritable trait. Furthermore, metabolic activity of glucose was significantly more heritable within AH than in the dorsal amygdala, as shown from the voxel FDG-PET. The authors noted that heritability of amygdala metabolic activity could have potentially been achieved with a larger

Hippocampus is a small, curved region, which exists in both hemispheres of the brain and plays a vital role in emotions, learning and acquisition of new information. It also contributes majorly to long term memory, which is permanent information stored in the brain. Although long term memory is the last information that can be forgotten, its impairment has become very common nowadays. The dysfunction is exemplified by many neurological disorders such as amnesia. There are two types of amnesia, anterograde and retrograde. Anterograde amnesia is inability in forming new information, while retrograde refers to the loss of the past memory. As suggested by Cipolotti and Bird (2006), hippocampus’s lesions are

This study is important for our understanding of the relationship between social inhibition of return (SIOR) and recognition memory. SIOR is defined as the impact of a person’s action on the overseer, which can result in slower responses to the same repeated location. This research hypothesizes that SIOR has an effect on recognition memory. An experiment was set to examine this inhibition of action response to recognition memory and participants were influenced by SIOR and biased in recognition memory test (RMT). This experiment has been conducted in the standard SIOR paradigm and recognition memory test (RMT) to determine whether SIOR inhibits retrieval of memory. Twenty-six participants were recruited in this experiment. A pair of participants

Within the realm if biological psychology, there are two known types of behaviour. One being regulatory and the other, non-regulatory. Regulatory behaviour is controlled by the hypothalamus and maintains homeostasis in the body by continuing the processes of the vital body systems. An example of this could be; eating. Regulatory behaviour occurs in a person’s everyday life without them noticing that it happens. Non-regulatory behaviour, on the other hand is not controlled by a homeostatic mechanism in the hypothalamus but rather in the orbitofrontal cortex. Example of non-regulatory behaviour include; parenting, aggression and social behaviour. (Swartz, L. et al, 2011)

Doctors and scientists dispute the exact role of the hippocampus, but agree that it has an essential role in the formation of new memories about personally experienced events. Some researchers prefer to consider the hippocampus as part of a larger medial temporal lobe memory system responsible for declarative memory. When a long-term, declarative memory is made, certain neuronal connections in the temporal lobe are strengthened, and others are weakened. These changes are fairly permanent, however some may take weeks or months before they are complete

The importance of the amygdala in social cognitions has been examined in both primate and human studies. Use of primates to study the social brain suggests that the amygdala contributes to social cognition. Kluver and Bucy made large bilateral lesions in monkey brains made across the amygdala, temporal neocortex, and surrounding structure. After the lesion, the animals engaged in hypersexual behaviors, unusual tameness, and a lack of knowledge about emotional stimuli. Lesions exclusively targeting the monkey’s amygdala resulted in similar, but more subtle impairments. This suggest that the amygdala may play a role in emotions elicited by social cues. Studies of the amygdala’s role in human social cognition suggest that the temporal lobes process socially relevant facial information from humans. Emotions from facial expressions, in particular fear are projected to the amygdala. Studies using FMRI to examine typical subjects and subjects with amygdala damage support this theory. Individuals with amygdala damage have difficulty recognizing facial expressions, specifically negative emotions such as fear.

However, Rosensweig and Bennet (1972) definitely showed some indication of the presence of positive effect of enriched environment full with stimulus may lead to brain development. Following this study, Maguire (2000) studied the effects of hippocampus on memory by using MRI scans. He studied 50 normal men and 50 London taxi drivers and scanned each of their brain. As he analyzed the volume of the hippocampus using pixel counting, Maguire found out that the taxi drivers had larger posterior hippocampus compared to the control. More importantly, he observed that as the experience of the taxi drivers were longer, the larger the volume of posterior hippocampus. This findings, thus, supported the conclusion offered by Rosenzweig and Bennet (1972)

Without the hippocampus, the information from the short-term memory (STM) cannot be stored in long term memory (LTM). The hippocampus is a very important part of the human brain to store our memories. If we lost it, we will lose all our conscious memories. From Henry’s case, it also discovered that there are multiple memory storage areas located at different parts of the brain while the hippocampus is important to consolidate short-term memory to long-term memory. The removal of hippocampus caused Henry to suffer until he died as he lost the ability to make new conscious