The Hippocampus and Our Memory

The most important role of the hippocampus involves memory. The hippocampus memory functions can be divided into memory consolidation, memory transfer, and spatial memory.

Memory Consolidation occurs when a new memory from a recent experience is “reformatted” into a long-term, more stable memory. Short-term memories are memories that are only available for a short amount of time before the information is forgotten. Long-term memories are memories that are stored within other portions of the brain and can be recalled months or years after they have been experienced. Short-term memories are stored in the hippocampus where they are either lost or transformed into long-term memories. This process is completed within the hippocampus. Resource Hippocampus/D… study.com

Memory Transfer means the transfer of data from memory to the external environment or the transfer of new data into the memory. Resource: Bus and Memory codingninjas.com

Spatial Memory is a cognitive process that enables a person to remember different locations as well as spatial relations between objects, for instance, allowing someone to navigate through a familiar city and allowing one to remember where an object is in relation to another object. Resource: Spatial memory https://en.m.wikipedia.org>wiki

While memory problems may be a sign of hippocampus damage, difficulties with memory can also develop due to aging or other neurological injuries.

Potential signs of hippocampus damage may include:

• Trouble recalling new and/or old memories and information
• Difficulty holding a conversation
• Poor decision-making
• Misplacing items frequently
• Difficulty following directions
• Asking the same question multiple times
• Difficulty following directions
• Getting lost in familiar places
• Forgetting to take care of oneself (i.e. eating, bathing)

Though hippocampus damage most often happens from neurological injury like a traumatic brain injury, it can also occur in other neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and depression. Because memory is one of the primary functions of the hippocampus, these diseases often cause difficulty with long-term and short-term memory.

Some neurological diseases in which hippocampus damage occurs include: anterograde amnesia, meaning one cannot remember new information, such as a current conversation, but they can often recall data and events from before the injury, Alzheimer’s disease, which impairs memory or other cognitive functions, epilepsy, or seizure disorder, depression, stress-induced cognitive dysfunction, and others. Some things used to help with these conditions are to exercise regularly, keep your brain stimulated with things like puzzles, knitting, video games, painting, gardening, and maintaining a healthy, well-balanced diet. Resource: Hippocampus Damage: How to Improve Memory After Injury https://www.flintrehab.com/hippocampus-brain-injury/  

Damage to the hippocampus can cause maladaptive behavior. Resource: Hippocampus function -medical.net

I know Veronica and I have damage to our hippocampus. It must be very common since so many people with brain injuries have memory problems. We do not only have severe short-term memory loss, but I also definitely have spatial memory problems. I can drive somewhere I have been many times and it sometimes looks completely unfamiliar to me. It has happened a mile from home, but last time it happened in our neighborhood, right around the block from our house. I become scared every time, but this time Veronica was with me to guide us home. It used to happen to me quite often and I would call my husband at work in tears from the side of the road saying, “I’m lost! Help me!” He would always tell me to drive to the crossroads so I could give him the name of the streets and he could guide me where to go. You would think a GPS would take away the fear. Although it can get you where you are going, it doesn’t take away that moment you look around and get scared because you do not recognize anything around you in an area you have gone many times. Veronica used to have a lot of trouble telling where objects were. She would bump into things time after time. It didn’t matter that they were in the same spot all the time, she would still fall over them. I have bipolar disorder, and when I am in a deep depression that lasts weeks or months, each episode I forget at least two weeks of my life. Something so weird is when Veronica cannot remember something with her short-term memory, but when it moves to her long-term memory she can. Brain injuries are peculiar in endless ways.

So many people, brain injured or not, often have memory problems. But it’s different for people who have brain injuries than people that don’t. Countless times I will forget something and whoever I’m with will try to make me feel better by saying they forget, too. The difference is that brain injured people often do this as many as 20 or 30 times each day. It’s definitely different.

If you would like to more about our lives as we live with brain injuries, please read my book titled,

A Miracle a Day, One Day at a Time: Hope After Traumatic Brain Injury

To purchase it, go to: https://store.bookbaby.com/bookshop/book/index.aspx?bookURL=A-Miracle-a-Day-One-Day-at -a-Time

If you have a memory problem, write yourself lots of notes. I keep paper and pen in almost every room of my house. My notes are taped to the microwave, on our kitchen counter, on the bathroom mirror, in the bathroom itself. Sometimes I even tape them to the steering wheel of my car. No place is silly or too much as long as it helps you. Many people put reminders on their phone, but my phone and I have a bad relationship. There are too many things I do not understand about technology. Whiteboards and cork boards help too.

Have a beautiful week my friends and family.