So what exactly is the hippocampus? Its a small but imperative part of the brain that primarily plays a role in creating new memories. Its quite an obvious fact now, but how did we come to such a conclusion? Back in the day, memory was assumed to be created by the entire brain as a general organ. No one would have expected such a tiny fraction of the brain to play such a big role. That was until Dr. Scoville performed a brain surgery on a desperate boy. What exactly was the surgery? He wiped out the boy’s hippocampi.
Yes, I was pretty shocked as you probably are. Why would anyone want to wipe out one’s hippocampi? Here’s how the story goes…
The Story
Henry Molaison was the boy’s name. Having been involved in an accident during his early years, Henry had a cracked skull. Consequently, he experienced numerous seizures and had quite a history of black outs and losses of body control. The situation became so problematic that he even dropped out of high school. Desperate for help, he turned to Dr. Scoville.
Dr. Scoville was a famous neurosurgeon at the time for being the daredevil he was. Having performed multiple risky surgeries, he wasn’t hesitant to help Henry. His solution was taking out his himpocampi and what do you know? He was successful.
You could say Henry had a better life after that. Free from seizures and black outs and even having a higher IQ, the boy was healed! However, he was only healed to a certain extent. He could not create new memories. He forgot events, dates, and information really easily and rapidly. From eating multiple meals to re-watching the same movies, Henry did all sorts of odd things. As unfortunate it might sound, thanks to the surgery and Henry’s behavior, light was shed on the function of the hippocampi. Scientists were able to discover that the hippocampus was indeed imperative in memory formation as well as long term memory. Despite its size, it plays a pivotal role in our everyday lives. Additionally, after hearing this story, who knows? Maybe you’ll have a stronger appreciation for your hippocampi as well because I definitely did not consider it as important as I do now.
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