Hippocampal memory encoding and retrieval: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:22, 10 February 2023

Revision as of 22:42, 10 February 2023

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The [[hippocampus]] participates in the [[encoding (memory)|encoding]], [[memory consolidation|consolidation]], and retrieval of memories.<ref name=a /> The hippocampus is located in the medial temporal lobe (subcortical), and is an infolding of the medial temporal cortex.<ref name=a>Gazzaniga, Michael S., Richard B. Ivry, and G. R. Mangun. "Chapter 9: Memory." Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind. 4th ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2014. 378-423. Print.</ref> The hippocampus plays an important role in the transfer of information from [[short-term memory]] to [[long-term memory]] during encoding and retrieval stages. These stages do not need to occur successively, but are, as studies seem to indicate, and they are broadly divided in the neuronal mechanisms that they require or even in the hippocampal areas that they seem to activate. According to Gazzaniga, "encoding is the processing of incoming information that creates memory traces to be stored."<ref name=a /> There are two steps to the encoding process: "acquisition" and "consolidation". During the acquisition process, stimuli are committed to short term memory.<ref name=a /> Then, consolidation is where the hippocampus along with other cortical structures stabilize an object within long term memory, which strengthens over time, and is a process for which a number of theories have arisen to explain the underlying mechanism.<ref name=a /> After encoding, the hippocampus is capable of going through the retrieval process. The retrieval process consists of accessing stored information; this allows learned behaviors to experience conscious depiction and execution.<ref name=a /> Encoding and retrieval are both affected by [[neurodegenerative]] and [[anxiety disorders]] and [[epilepsy]].

==Theories and reasoning==