SynAxes Back to the Temporal Lobe

Temporal Lobe · Structure

Hippocampus

The seahorse that writes your memories.

Curled deep inside each temporal lobe, the hippocampus converts experience into long-term memory and builds mental maps of space. Its name comes from the Greek for seahorse, which it resembles.

What it does

  • Forming new long-term memories
  • Spatial navigation and place cells
  • Linking memories to context and time

In the real world

Early Alzheimer's detection

Hippocampal volume on MRI now helps doctors flag Alzheimer's years before symptoms, opening a window for treatments that only work early.