What Part of the Brain Controls Memory?
June 14th 2010 05:36
Signature Tune
From: health and wellness
Have you ever wondered what part of the brain controls memory? Have you ever wondered how it would feel to have no memories - short term or long term - or perhaps not be able to retain or create new memories?
We don't realize just how important our memories are to us until there comes a time when we have difficulty remembering the simplest things... like where you put your car keys, or what you wore to work yesterday or even what game you were playing only minutes before you were interrupted! But the scariest part is when you start forgetting the names of family members and other people you have known for years.
The part of the brain that is responsible for memory is known as the hippocampus. It is part of the limbic system and can be found in the medial temporal lobe. The functions of the hippocampus go beyond what you think such a small structure in the brain should be capable of.
Believe it or not, this small, curved, tube shaped structure is responsible for not only forming new memories about all your experiences and then processing the new and temporary memories into long term storage... it is also responsible for functions like your emotions, your behavior and your sense of smell.
Whenever you have to remember places, events, people or any important facts... it is because of the hippocampus being able to retrieve this information that this is even possible. If this structure is damaged or removed, your memory will suffer in the process. How do the scientist and doctors know this? Read the next caption of the relationship between the hippocampus and memory.
Relationship Between The Hippocampus And Memory
The relationship between our memory and the hippocampus was realized when a man by the name of Henry Gustav Molaison had two-thirds of his hippocampus removed because of epileptic seizures.
Apparently the surgery was successful for the seizures, but the doctors soon discovered that Mr. Molaison had trouble processing any new events to long-term memory. Neither could he remember most of the things that happened in his life 1 to 2 years prior to the surgery and some things as much as 11 years prior to surgery.
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