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.

Latest advances in Alzheimer's research presented at AAIC 2011

This week, more than 5,000 scientists from around the world gathered in Paris to report the latest advances in Alzheimer's research at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2011.

20 Jul 2011

People with small hippocampus do not face higher risk of depression

Imaging studies have repeatedly found that people with depression have smaller hippocampal volumes than healthy individuals. The hippocampus is a brain region involved in learning and memory, spatial navigation, and the evaluation of complex life situations or "contexts".

20 Jul 2011

Global research initiatives to standardize Alzheimer's biomarkers

As the Alzheimer's field moves closer to new and earlier tests for the disease, innovative global research initiatives are taking the first important steps to standardize Alzheimer's biomarkers, as evidenced by two presentations made today at the Alzheimer's Association(R) International Conference 2011 (AAIC 2011) in Paris.

18 Jul 2011

Meditation appears to change brain anatomy: Study

Two years ago, researchers at UCLA found that specific regions in the brains of long-term meditators were larger and had more gray matter than the brains of individuals in a control group. This suggested that meditation may indeed be good for all of us since, alas, our brains shrink naturally with age.

15 Jul 2011

UCI study sheds light on how transplantation alleviates side effects of radiotherapy

Human neural stem cells are capable of helping people regain learning and memory abilities lost due to radiation treatment for brain tumors, a UC Irvine study suggests.

14 Jul 2011

Researchers discover mechanism that can protect from aging processes

Humans are getting older and older, and the number of people with dementia is increasing. The factors controlling degeneration of the brain are still mostly unknown. However, researchers assume that factors such as stress, accumulation of toxic waste products as well as inflammation accelerate aging. But, vice versa, there are also mechanisms that can - like a bodyguard - protect the brain from degenerating, or repair defective structures.

13 Jul 2011

Scientists identify molecular mechanism behind alcohol-induced blackouts

A person who drinks too much alcohol may be able to perform complicated tasks, such as dancing, carrying on a conversation or even driving a car, but later have no memory of those escapades. These periods of amnesia, commonly known as "blackouts," can last from a few minutes to several hours.

7 Jul 2011

Prolonged exposure to air pollution can have visible, negative effects on brain

Long-term exposure to air pollution can lead to physical changes in the brain, as well as learning and memory problems and even depression, new research in mice suggests.

5 Jul 2011

Study reveals unique pattern of brain activity when false memories are formed

How easy is it to falsify memory? New research at the Weizmann Institute shows that a bit of social pressure may be all that is needed. The study, which appears Friday in Science, reveals a unique pattern of brain activity when false memories are formed - one that hints at a surprising connection between our social selves and memory.

1 Jul 2011

New research helps explain how memories are stored at synapses

Have a tough time remembering where you put your keys, learning a new language or recalling names at a cocktail party? New research from the Lisman Laboratory at Brandeis University points to a molecule that is central to the process by which memories are stored in the brain. A paper published in the June 22 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience describes the new findings.

24 Jun 2011

Scientists observe key aspects of how memory circuits in the brain refine themselves

Scientists at the University of Michigan Health System have for the first time demonstrated how memory circuits in the brain refine themselves in a living organism through two distinct types of competition between cells.

23 Jun 2011

Biomedical engineers analyze and duplicate the neural mechanism of learning in rats

Scientists have developed a way to turn memories on and off-literally with the flip of a switch. Using an electronic system that duplicates the neural signals associated with memory, they managed to replicate the brain function in rats associated with long-term learned behavior, even when the rats had been drugged to forget.

17 Jun 2011

European scientists develop efficient methods for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's

PredictAD is an EU-funded research project that develops objective and efficient methods for enabling earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Diagnosis requires a holistic view of the patient combining information from several sources, such as, clinical tests, imaging and blood samples.

16 Jun 2011

Newborn neurons help create emotional context of memory

Fear burns memories into our brain, and new research by University of California, Berkeley, neuroscientists explains how.

15 Jun 2011

Scientists find novel form of brain plasticity

Scientists have known for years that neurogenesis takes place throughout adulthood in the hippocampus of the mammalian brain. Now Columbia researchers have found that under stressful conditions, neural stem cells in the adult hippocampus can produce not only neurons, but also new stem cells.

14 Jun 2011

University of Mississippi grants ChromaDex global rights to pterostilbene

ChromaDex Corp. and the University of Mississippi today announced the university has granted the natural products company the exclusive worldwide patent rights to a potential new therapeutic use for pterostilbene (tero-STILL-bean) as an anxiolytic or anti-anxiety agent. ChromaDex' pTeroPure® is an ultra-pure formulation of pterostilbene, a compound found in blueberries and demonstrated to have multiple health benefits.

9 Jun 2011

New neurons may take over six months to mature

New neurons take more than six months to mature in adult monkeys and that time is likely even longer in humans, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, the University of Illinois, and Pennsylvania State University.

8 Jun 2011

SPI and Neuralstem sign licensing agreement for major depression drug, NSI-189

Neuralstem, Inc. announced that it has signed an exclusive agency licensing agreement with Summit Pharmaceuticals International Corporation, of Tokyo, Japan (SPI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation Group.

8 Jun 2011

Study: Stress may trigger Alzheimer's disease

Stress promotes neuropathological changes that are also seen in Alzheimer's disease. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich have discovered that the increased release of stress hormones in rats leads to generation of abnormally phosphorylated tau protein in the brain and ultimately, memory loss.

27 May 2011

Leukemia protein plays a role in Alzheimer's disease

After decades of studying the pathological process that wipes out large volumes of memory, scientists at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research discovered a molecule called c-Abl that has a known role in leukemia also has a hand in Alzheimer's disease.

25 May 2011