The hippocampus is a major component of the brain of humans and many other vertebrates. It plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory, and in spatial memory that enables navigation. In humans and other primates, the hippocampus is located in the archicortex, one of the three regions of allocortex, in each hemisphere. The hippocampus is a structure found in all vertebrates. In Alzheimer's disease (and other forms of dementia), the hippocampus is one of the first regions of the brain to suffer damage; short-term memory loss and disorientation are included among the early symptoms. Damage to the hippocampus can also result from oxygen starvation, encephalitis or medial temporal lobe epilepsy. Since different neuronal cell types are neatly organized into layers in the hippocampus, it has frequently been used as a model system for studying neurophysiology.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocampus

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1817:

Windham William Sadler made the first successful aerial crossing of the Irish Sea, which he accomplished by balloon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windham_William_Sadler

1975:

Stanley Forman took the Pulitzer Prize–winning photo Fire Escape Collapse, which spurred action to improve the safety of fire escapes across the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Escape_Collapse

1997:

Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece, the best- selling manga series in history, debuted in Weekly Shōnen Jump. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Piece

2002:

The Israel Defense Forces bombed the home of Salah Shehade, the leader of the military arm of Hamas, killing him, his family and neighboring civilians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salah_Shehade

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

chokehold: 1. (martial arts, wrestling) A grappling hold around a person's neck, especially one in which the neck is grasped tightly from behind with an arm, cutting off the flow of blood to the brain and restricting breathing. 2. (figurative) A powerful and restrictive control or influence over something. 3. (transitive) To put a hold around the neck of (someone), especially one in which the neck is grasped tightly from behind with an arm. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chokehold

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

If we're ever going to get the world back on a natural footing, back in tune with natural rhythyms, if we're going to nurture the Earth and protect it and have fun with it and learn from it — which is what mothers do with their children — then we've got to put technology (an aggressive masculine system) in its proper place, which is that of a tool to be used sparingly, joyfully, gently and only in the fullest cooperation with nature. Nature must govern technology, not the other way around.   --Tom Robbins https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Robbins