Hippo + Campus = Hippocampus

(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!

Memory, oh sweet memory!

   
    There are various types of memories that psychologists refer to and they are episodic, explicit, implicit, semantic, short-term, long-term, sensory, declarative, and procedural memory.

    Usually memory can be simply divided into long-term and short-term memory, but sensory memory can be grouped along with these types of memories. Sensory memory lasts less than a second and is based on touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing. Short-term memory, or working memory, lasts about a minute or so. Long-term memory is something that is stored within the brain throughout your life. With long-term memory that are various types of memories that help you throughout your life.

    Long-term memory can be broken into Declarative, or explicit, Memory and Procedural, or implicit Memory.  Declarative Memory is made of events and facts, things that are certain and can be recalled consciously. This type of memory is called Explicit because the information has been stored and it can be recalled explicitly. Declarative Memory can still be divided into episodic and semantic memory, which I will speak about a little later.  Procedural Memory is unconscious and it is consists of skills that are a "to do" task or motor functions.  A familiar is example is riding a bike; once you have learned the skills you don't have to think about what you need to do. This type of memory works with skills that have been mastered and are procedures. Procedural Memory can be called Implicit Memory when a past experience influences a certain task without consciously being aware of the past experiences.

    Episodic Memory and Semantic Memory are part of Declarative Memory. Episodic Memory is memory of specific events and experiences. It can be thought of as autobiographical memory because it is knowledge of your own life and the things that happened to you.Semantic Memory is more worldly and focuses on events, facts, and knowledge of the world that is around us. It is knowledge of a specific event or place without having experience of that specific place. 

     Those are the basics of the types of memories that psychologists have broken down.  Not only is there short-term and long-term memory, but also sensory memory. And within long-term memory, our memories can be broken down into unconscious and conscious memory. I think memory is an amazing thing because without it we would have a hard time functioning in our lives, especially with school. Hope you enjoyed the Psych Knowledge for today, and feel free to ask any questions, comments, or even suggestions for a topic. Thanks for reading!

 

 

Human Memory Information

(This information and picture are from the link provided above...)