The hippocampus is a critical structure within the Medial Temporal Lobe system, responsible for Memory Formation, Spatial Navigation, and Sequence Learning. It’s one of the most computationally studied brain regions, in part because its anatomy is relatively well-constrained and its functions have clean behavioral readouts.
In addition to memory and navigation, the dentate gyrus is one of the few regions that sustains adult Neurogenesis.
- receives sensory information from Lateral Entorhinal Cortex
- receives structural information from Medial Entorhinal Cortex
Biological Structure
The hippocampus is part of the Limbic System, organized into the trisynaptic loop: entorhinal cortex → dentate gyrus → CA3 → CA1 → subiculum → entorhinal cortex. The Schaffer collateral (CA3→CA1) synapse is the canonical site for studying Long-Term Potentiation.