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Hippocampus

All articles tagged with #hippocampus

Immature Neurons and the Neurogenesis Debate in Human Depression
science22 days ago

Immature Neurons and the Neurogenesis Debate in Human Depression

A critical review reevaluates the neurogenic hypothesis of depression in humans in light of new data on adult hippocampal neurogenesis, highlighting heterogeneous postmortem findings and recent advances in human-specific neurogenesis research. It emphasizes immature granule neurons as a potential, understudied element that may be affected by stress, inflammation, and antidepressant treatment, and discusses how human data are reshaping causal models, regional hippocampal differences, and therapeutic targets. The article also outlines research directions to clarify the role of immature neurons in depression and resilience and to explore their translational potential for treatment.

via Nature|
#depression#hippocampus#humanstudies
The Invisible Memory: Why Baby Memories Fade as We Grow
science22 days ago

The Invisible Memory: Why Baby Memories Fade as We Grow

Many adults cannot recall infancy, but recent science shows babies can form memories too. A 2025 Yale study found infants can encode episodic-like memory, with hippocampal activity predicting later recognition, suggesting early memories are stored even if not retrievable later. Infantile amnesia likely arises from brain development — especially the hippocampus and cortex — changing neural connections and memory stability. As the brain rapidly matures and language skills emerge, experiences become harder to access as explicit memories, though early experiences can still subtly influence behavior and skills. Some memories might linger as neural traces or cue-driven recognitions rather than vivid autobiographical stories, and language helps turn scattered recall into coherent narratives.

via The Times of India|
#early-childhood#hippocampus#infantile-amnesia
Placenta-Derived Vesicle Nasal Spray Improves Cognition in Alzheimer’s Mouse Model
science24 days ago

Placenta-Derived Vesicle Nasal Spray Improves Cognition in Alzheimer’s Mouse Model

A Translational Neurodegeneration study in mice shows that a nasal spray containing extracellular vesicles derived from human placenta (hAMSC-EVs) reached the hippocampus and improved cognitive performance in Alzheimer's-model mice after six months of twice-weekly dosing. The treatment reduced amyloid-beta deposits and neuroinflammation, and increased neuroplasticity markers (ARC, GluA1, BDNF), though it did not affect tau phosphorylation. Separate experiments with patient-derived neurons suggested neuroprotective effects. Researchers emphasize this is preclinical and human efficacy is unproven, but placenta-derived EVs could represent a promising direction pending further study.

via ScienceAlert|
#alzheimers-disease#extracellular-vesicles#hippocampus
Aging brains misfile memories: new study reveals how memories blend with age
science25 days ago

Aging brains misfile memories: new study reveals how memories blend with age

A study in Cerebral Cortex scanned young, middle-aged, and older adults through encoding, storage, and retrieval of face–scene/object pairs. It found older adults make more memory mix-ups—often recalling a memory from a different event—while showing weaker repetition of the original neural patterns tied to a memory. The hippocampus appears to shift memories between stages as people age, contributing to misattribution. Researchers highlight questions about the exact neural signatures of correct memories and potential roles for other brain regions, and suggest future interventions (exercise, mindfulness, brain stimulation, smartphone cues) to strengthen memory fidelity, though more work is needed to determine effective strategies.

via The Conversation|
#aging#hippocampus#memory
Aging reshapes memory replay: older brains misbind details, study finds
memory1 month ago

Aging reshapes memory replay: older brains misbind details, study finds

A new neuroimaging study across three age groups shows aging alters how the hippocampus replays memories: younger adults’ patterns reinstating precise details predict better recall, while older adults’ similar patterns are linked to category-level mistakes (e.g., choosing a scene instead of an object). Middle age shows a transitional pattern. Memory accuracy declines with age, with hippocampal pattern stability explaining about 30% of the decline, independent of hippocampal size. The researchers say these changes are due to functional shifts in memory processing and suggest future work in neurofeedback and neurostimulation to boost memory in aging.

via PsyPost|
#aging#fmri#hippocampus
Aging Brains Blur Memories Across Categories, Not Just Forgetting
science1 month ago

Aging Brains Blur Memories Across Categories, Not Just Forgetting

A new brain-imaging study of 61 participants aged 18–74 shows that as people age, their hippocampus reactivates memories in a broader, less precise way, leading to cross-category mix-ups (e.g., linking a face to a scene instead of the correct object). Younger adults’ recall closely matches learning patterns and predicts accuracy, while older adults’ brain patterns correlate with category-level misbinding rather than outright forgetting. The shift isn’t explained by hippocampal shrinkage or attention deficits, suggesting aging changes memory replay from a precise “scalpel” to a broader “brush.” This reframes aging-related memory decline as a problem of maintaining distinct memory details rather than a simple loss of storage, with implications for strategies to sharpen memory specificity.

via StudyFinds|
#aging#hippocampus#memory
Depression May Stop New Brain Cells From Forming in Adults, Altering Memory
health-and-medicine1 month ago

Depression May Stop New Brain Cells From Forming in Adults, Altering Memory

A large Columbia-led study shows major depressive disorder disrupts neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus, potentially impairing pattern separation and the ability to store distinct memories. The researchers mapped widespread molecular and epigenetic changes across the hippocampal network, linking inflammation and altered gene programs to depression and suggesting new targets for treatments that classify depression by molecular subtype rather than brain region.

via Science Daily|
#depression#health-and-medicine#hippocampus
Hippocampal Neurogenesis Halts in Adults with Major Depression
health1 month ago

Hippocampal Neurogenesis Halts in Adults with Major Depression

Columbia University researchers link major depressive disorder to stalled adult hippocampal neurogenesis, showing reduced neuron birth impairs pattern separation and emotional memory. Post-mortem analysis of about half a million brain cells reveals gene and epigenetic changes, including inflammation, pointing to neurogenesis as a therapeutic target and suggesting depression could be classified by molecular features rather than brain region.

via News-Medical|
#depression#epigenetics#health
Why traumatic memories come in fragments and feel like the present moment
health1 month ago

Why traumatic memories come in fragments and feel like the present moment

Traumatic memories are not stored or recalled like ordinary memories; during trauma, the amygdala stays highly active while the hippocampus is overwhelmed, causing memories to break into sensory fragments and to be relived as if the threat is happening now. This non-linear recall can look inconsistent or even be misread as lying, especially by lawyers or clinicians. A trauma‑informed approach—empathy, careful language, and awareness that memory can be fragmented—improves support in healthcare, legal settings, and everyday relationships and can aid survivors’ healing.

via theconversation.com|
#amygdala#health#hippocampus
Map-Based Thinking: Learning Local Environments May Protect Your Brain
health1 month ago

Map-Based Thinking: Learning Local Environments May Protect Your Brain

A new study suggests that people who rely less on GPS and actively learn their surroundings can strengthen the hippocampus and may lower Alzheimer's risk; building mental maps is linked to brain health, with prior London taxi driver research showing larger posterior hippocampus from route-learning, and a 2024 Harvard-led analysis finding that taxi and ambulance drivers had Alzheimer's death rates under 1%—far lower than the overall rate—compared with other transportation jobs. The takeaway isn’t to abandon GPS entirely but to exercise spatial navigation in daily life to potentially protect the brain as you age.

via Jalopnik|
#alzheimers-disease#brain-health#health
Depression Tied to Shrinkage in a Key Memory Hub in the Brain
science1 month ago

Depression Tied to Shrinkage in a Key Memory Hub in the Brain

A USC-led study using MRI and PET scans of over 2,000 cognitively normal adults found that depression is linked to a smaller CA23DG portion of the hippocampus (comprising CA2/CA3 and the dentate gyrus), an association that largely held even after accounting for Alzheimer's risk factors. Antidepressant use and longer duration of depression were also associated with greater volume reductions in related hippocampal subregions, though the findings are correlational and do not establish causation or warrant changing treatment. Further longitudinal research is needed to understand the mechanisms at play.

via ScienceAlert|
#alzheimers-disease-risk#antidepressants#ca23dg
Dendrites Make Neurons Multi-Processors, Revealing Hidden Brain Power
science1 month ago

Dendrites Make Neurons Multi-Processors, Revealing Hidden Brain Power

Researchers using voltage-imaging in mice show dendrites can compute independently of the cell body, effectively turning a neuron into a multi-processor. In novel environments, some dendrites encode new locations before the soma and can preserve past activity as memory traces, suggesting dendrites act as local memory devices and that brain power is much greater than previously thought due to complex dendritic architectures.

via Scientific American|
#brain-computation#dendrites#hippocampus