The Hippocampus
By: Colin Finch
The Hippocampus
There is only one part of the brain that cause you to be hospitalized. Most people are not familiar with the part of the of you brain that consists of two "horns" that curve back. If it is damaged the a person can't build new memories, and old memories are untouched! The form of neural plasticity known as long term potentiation (LTP) occurs in the Hippocampus and is believe to be one of the main neural mechanisms by which memory is stored in the brain.
Neural Plasticity
Neural Plasticity allows the central nervous system to learn and remember information.
It reorganizes neuronal networks in response to environmental stimulations. Neural plasticity enhances in the developing brain and is usually adaptive and beneficial, but can also be maladaptive and be responsible for neurological disorders in some situations. Understanding brain plasticity provides a basis for developing better therapies to improve outcome from acquired brain injuries (Johnston1).
Long-Term Potentiation
One of the most interesting characteristics of long term potentiation is that it causes long-term strengthening of the synapsis between two neurons that are activated simultaneously (Long1). All learning depends on memory. The formation of memories appears to occur in two separate phases: short-term memory and long-term memory. Short-term memory is when humans undergoing eletroshock treatment are unable to remember events that occur just prior to the treatment. Long-term memory is the section of the memory storage system in which experiences are stored on a semipermanent basis (learning1).
Neural Mechanisms
After an initial phase of presenting beneficial effects of mindfulness practice in various domains. Research is now seeking to unravel the underlying psychological and neurophysiological mechanisms. Advances in understanding these process are required for improving and fine-tuning mindfulness-based interventions that target specific conditions such as eating disorders or attention deficit hyperactivity disorders. (Malinowski1)
In Conclusion, many injuries can be caused by the Hippocampus. Try to avoid anything that could injure the brain. If big blows to the head occur, try to get help to seeif you still have memory. If not, seek immediate medical help. Many can be institutionalized because of this. The form of plasticity known as Long-term potentiation (LPT) occurs in the Hippocampus and is belived to be on of the main neural mechanisms by which memory is stored in the brain.
Work Cited
"Plasticity In The Developing Brain." ncb.nlm.nih.gov. 1 n. page. Web.14 Jan. 2014.
"Long Term Poentiation ." thebrain.mcgill.ca. 1 n. page. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
"Learning, Memory and Long Term Potentiation."users.rcn.com. 1 n. page. Web.15 Jan. 2014.
Malinowski, Peter. "Neural Mechanisms Of Attentional Control In Mindfulness Meditation."www.frontiersn.org. 1 n. page. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.