Hippocampus News and Research

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The hippocampus is a part of the forebrain, located in the medial temporal lobe. It belongs to the limbic system and plays major roles in short term memory and spatial navigation. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain.

New evidence found for role of human hippocampus in future planning

A team of scientists reports finding the first evidence that the human hippocampus is necessary for future planning. Its findings, published in the journal Neuron, link its long-established role in memory with our ability to use our knowledge to map out the future effects of our actions.

13 Mar 2019

Study uncovers dramatic differences in the brains of Hispanics with dementia

A major new study from the UC Davis Alzheimer's Center has uncovered dramatic differences in the brains of Hispanics with a dementia diagnosis compared with those of non-Hispanic whites and of African Americans.

12 Mar 2019

Intentional forgetting may take more mental effort than remembering

Choosing to forget something might take more mental effort than trying to remember it, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin discovered through neuroimaging.

12 Mar 2019

Researchers explore how the brain changes over the course of Alzheimer's disease

What changes in the brain are caused by Alzheimer's disease? How do these changes differ from those observed in the normal aging process? Researchers from the CNRS, the école pratique des hautes études and the University of Valencia explored these questions by analyzing over 4,000 MRI scans of healthy and diseased brains using the "volBrain" platform.

9 Mar 2019

Researchers discover previously unknown role for hippocampus during learning

Avid hikers know to be cautious of plants with leaves made up of three leaflets if they are red in the spring or fall. Parents worldwide know the precarious relationship between proximity to bedtime and roughhousing with their children.

6 Mar 2019

Hot car deaths: Study describes psychological and neural basis of how people make fatal errors

More than 50 children died in hot cars in 2018, making it the deadliest year on record. Many of the cases involve parents who unknowingly left a child behind, often for an entire day.

5 Mar 2019

Tactile and proprioceptive stimulation improves effects of perinatal brain injuries in mice

A research conducted by the INc-UAB shows that the same perinatal brain injury caused by hypoxia and ischemia have differentiated effects on each gender, but can be improved through tactile and proprioceptive stimuli.

5 Mar 2019

Joint use of tobacco and alcohol may increase neural damage in brain regions

Along with many other harmful health consequences, smoking tobacco causes chemical changes, oxidative stress and inflammation in the brain. Excessive alcohol use can have similar effects.

28 Feb 2019

Brain response to mom's voice found to be greatly diminished in children with autism

For most children, the sound of their mother's voice triggers brain activity patterns distinct from those triggered by an unfamiliar voice. But the unique brain response to mom's voice is greatly diminished in children with autism, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine.

26 Feb 2019

Newly developed probe looks, acts, and feels so much like real neuron

Like a well-guarded fortress, the human brain attacks intruders on sight. Foreign objects, including neural probes used to study and treat the brain, do not last long.

26 Feb 2019

Neuron-derived estrogen key to making memories

Estrogen in the brain is important to keep neurons communicating and memories being made, scientists report.

25 Feb 2019

Transplanting bone marrow of young mice into old mice prevents cognitive decline

A new study has found that transplanting the bone marrow of young laboratory mice into old mice prevented cognitive decline in the old mice, preserving their memory and learning abilities.

20 Feb 2019

UQ research may explain why vitamin D is essential for brain health

University of Queensland research may explain why vitamin D is vital for brain health, and how deficiency leads to disorders including depression and schizophrenia.

20 Feb 2019

Study shows how animals may remember and locate food sources

A subset of neurons in the hippocampus respond to both place and taste, according to research in male rats published in JNeurosci.

From Society for Neuroscience 19 Feb 2019

Activating gene that helps excite neurons reverses depression in male mice

Directly activating a gene important to exciting our excitatory neurons and associated with major depression may help turn around classic symptoms like social isolation and loss of interest, at least for males, scientists report.

18 Feb 2019

Mountain chickadee research shows link between natural selection and spatial memory

Chickadees with better learning and memory skills, needed to find numerous food caches, are more likely to survive their first winter, a long-term study of mountain chickadees has found.

13 Feb 2019

MGH researchers identify brain cells that modulate behavioral response to threats

A team of investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Regenerative Medicine has identified a population of brain cells that appears to play a role in calibrating behavioral responses to potentially threatening situations.

12 Feb 2019

Alzheimer's disease protection from exercise hormone irisin

Irisin is found to be protective against Alzheimer’s disease finds a new study. The results of the new study were published in the journal Nature Medicine.

11 Feb 2019

Study reveals how exercise may protect against Alzheimer's disease

Athletes know a vigorous workout can release a flood of endorphins: "feel-good" hormones that boost mood. Now there's evidence that exercise produces another hormone that may improve memory and protect against Alzheimer's disease, according to a study co-led by Ottavio Arancio, MD, PhD, a researcher at Columbia University's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain.