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Neurobiology

A place for space and smells

Nature volume 397, pages 561–563 (1999)Cite this article

The hippocampus has a simple, cortical structure in which the neurons are arranged in three layers (rather than the six layers of the neocortex, which makes up the convoluted surface of the brain). The name hippocampus derives from its elegantly curved structure, somewhat fancifully supposed to resemble the shape of a seahorse. (An alternative name, Ammon's horn, reflects a more plausible similarity to the horns of a ram-headed Egyptian god.)

Experimental analysis of hippocampal function was kick-started by clinical observations in the early 1950s. A patient known as H. M., who suffered from uncontrollable epilepsy, was treated with a “frankly experimental” surgery — the structures on the inner faces of his left and right temporal lobes were removed. The surgery led to a devastating amnesia and, although H. M. could still recall events from before the operation, he seemed unable to lay down new memories, retaining memories of new events for no more than a few minutes2. In the hunt to identify which component of H. M.'s brain damage might be responsible for this striking clinical outcome, attention focused on the hippocampus, which was seriously damaged by the surgery.

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Figure 1

E. R. WOOD ET AL.

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  1. the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, OX1 3UD, Oxford, UK

    J. N. P. Rawlins

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Rawlins, J. A place for space and smells. Nature 397, 561–563 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/17481

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