: either of the eighth pair of cranial nerves connecting the inner ear with the brain, transmitting impulses concerned with hearing and balance, and composed of the cochlear nerve and the vestibular nerveâcalled also acoustic nerve, auditory, eighth cranial nerve, vestibulocochlear nerve.
The hippocampus, Latin for seahorse, is named for its shape. It is part of a system that directs many bodily functions: the limbic system. This system is located in the brain's medial temporal lobe, near the center of the brain. The hippocampus is involved in the storage of long-term memory, which includes all past knowledge and experiences. Scientists are unsure exactly how this occurs.
The medial temporal lobe (the inner part of the temporal lobe, near the divide between the left and right hemispheres) in particular is thought to be involved in declarative and episodic memory.