Hippocampus has larger role than previously thought

The hippocampus plays a bigger memory role than previously thought, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of California claim that a new methodology, that more deeply parses how and where certain types of memory are processed in the brain, has shown that the hippocampus controls recollection and familiarity memories.

It has long been established that the hippocampus controls memory function but the new discovery but it was originally believed that familiarity was controlled by the perirhinal cortex.

The discovery is hoped to generate new research that will improve the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Professor Larry Squire, researcher on the project, stated: “If you have better constructs, you have a better way of knowing what’s going on in a patient’s brain.

“You can be more precise in your thinking about what’s happening and what to do.”

It was first asserted that the hippocampus controlled both recollection and familiarity by Professor Squire in 2006.

However, details of hippocampus functioning have been hotly contested among medical circles.

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