(this image is from here!)
The hippocampus is an area of the brain that is for storing and retrieving memories, or it's a way of learning to recall. The hippocampus sends to the cortex and other areas to fire areas for the "episode" to become real. Short-term memory is when you are trying to remember or recall something and an hour later the thought doesn't come to you. Sometimes the memory is consolidated into long-term memory, such as remembering a phone number, or where you parked your car. (Consolidation is when short-term memories are encoded into long-term memories.)It is not a structural change in the brain. In order for short-term memory to turn into long-term memory there needs to be structural changes in the brain need to occur.
One of the famous cases of damage to the hippocampus is Patient H.M. He had been in an accident, and the doctors decided that the best thing to do was to remove his hippocampus. As long as he was able to keep his short-term memory active, as in working memory, he was able to remember things. When he would get distracted, H.M. would forget what he was trying to remember for the doctor, and would even forget the question.
Before his hippocampus was removed, his memory was like anyone else's, but after his surgery he had trouble with his short-term memory. Afterwards, he was still able to recall any memories that he had from his childhood. This told researchers that the hippocampus was not necessary for retrieval of memories from the past. However, H.M. had trouble retrieving memories from several years prior to his surgery. The reason for this is because this process of consolidation doesn't occur all at once. It happens over the course of time; takes years, months, and so on.
H.M.'s immediate short-term memory was intact, or at least for a little while. He was capable of having a conversation with someone, but if he talked to that person for too long, then he would forget. He would be able to read the same book and magazine over and over again. If a nurse that H.M. met left the room, then came back, H.M. would reintroduce himself to the nurse as though he had no idea of who she was. He would constantly ask where he was and other similar questions.
Even though he wasn't able to make any new memories, he had the potential to learn new skills. One of them being a finger maze, which consisted of H.M. tracing a maze with his finger, and as he kept doing it, he would get better at it each day and each time that he tried. Even though he was getting better, he was not able to remember that he was actually getting better; this is an example of rehearsal of skills, or practicing your procedural memory.
A great example of short-term memory loss is the movie "Momento". The character in this movie has the same sort of problems where he is unable to recall things for more than several moments. He also constantly asks if he has talked to a particular person before and other similar scenarios. The film is entertaining and gives the film watcher the ability to get an insight into this deficiency.
Thank you for reading this post on Hippocampus with a focus on H.M. Hope you enjoyed this post and today's Psych Knowledge. Thanks!
One of the famous cases of damage to the hippocampus is Patient H.M. He had been in an accident, and the doctors decided that the best thing to do was to remove his hippocampus. As long as he was able to keep his short-term memory active, as in working memory, he was able to remember things. When he would get distracted, H.M. would forget what he was trying to remember for the doctor, and would even forget the question.
Before his hippocampus was removed, his memory was like anyone else's, but after his surgery he had trouble with his short-term memory. Afterwards, he was still able to recall any memories that he had from his childhood. This told researchers that the hippocampus was not necessary for retrieval of memories from the past. However, H.M. had trouble retrieving memories from several years prior to his surgery. The reason for this is because this process of consolidation doesn't occur all at once. It happens over the course of time; takes years, months, and so on.
H.M.'s immediate short-term memory was intact, or at least for a little while. He was capable of having a conversation with someone, but if he talked to that person for too long, then he would forget. He would be able to read the same book and magazine over and over again. If a nurse that H.M. met left the room, then came back, H.M. would reintroduce himself to the nurse as though he had no idea of who she was. He would constantly ask where he was and other similar questions.
Even though he wasn't able to make any new memories, he had the potential to learn new skills. One of them being a finger maze, which consisted of H.M. tracing a maze with his finger, and as he kept doing it, he would get better at it each day and each time that he tried. Even though he was getting better, he was not able to remember that he was actually getting better; this is an example of rehearsal of skills, or practicing your procedural memory.
A great example of short-term memory loss is the movie "Momento". The character in this movie has the same sort of problems where he is unable to recall things for more than several moments. He also constantly asks if he has talked to a particular person before and other similar scenarios. The film is entertaining and gives the film watcher the ability to get an insight into this deficiency.
Thank you for reading this post on Hippocampus with a focus on H.M. Hope you enjoyed this post and today's Psych Knowledge. Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment