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
Prenatal memory the neurotoxic effects (harm to nerve cells) of prenatal methamphetamine exposure on brain development, as well as on cognitive functioning. Children exposed to meth in utero scored lower on key measures of memory performance, including attention, verbal memory and long term spatial memory. The reduced size of brain structures associated with memory and attention was also noted through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a process used to produce images of the brain for observation. For example, those with prenantal meth exposure had, on average, a smaller hippocampus (a brain structure involved in many things, including memory) than control participants. This reduction