Hippocampus Hippocampus The hippocampus (named after its resemblance to the seahorse, from the Greek ἱππόκαμπος, "seahorse" from ἵππος "hippos", "horse" and κάμπος "kampos", "sea monster") is a major component of the brains of humans and other vertebrates. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain. The hippocampus belongs to the limbic system and plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory, and in spatial memory that enables navigation. The hippocampus is located under the cerebral cortex (allocortical) and in primates in the medial temporal lobe. It contains two main
Long-term memory working memory. If working memory is overloaded it can affect the encoding of long-term memory. If one has a good working memory they may have a better long-term memory encoding. Minor everyday slips and lapses of memory are fairly commonplace, and may increase naturally with age, when ill, or when under stress. Some women may experience more memory lapses following the onset of the menopause. In general, more serious problems with memory occur due to traumatic brain injury or neurodegenerative disease. The majority of findings about memory have been the result of studies that lesioned specific brain regions in rats