The hippocampus" role in human and animal relational learning abilities.
Extensive research has been conducted on the areas of the brain that are responsible for the storage and retrieval of memories and the processes involved in learning. Numerous scientific studies have been conducted and have enabled us to understand the complex nature of the physiological processes involved in relational learning and memory. Scientific research allows us to evaluate the mental and physical limitations that result from damage to the areas of the brain that control these processes. Relating specified deficits to specific regions of the brain is possible because of countless scientific studies and the advancement in modern technology. Scientific studies are engineered to incorporate known physiological processes and test them against the ability or inability to perform specific physical or mental tasks.
While there are many regions and pathways in the brain that are liked to relational learning and memory, we are concerned with the hippocampus. Our understanding of the role of the hippocampus and relational learning is paramount in understanding the actual physiological complexities of the human brain. Relational learning includes the formation of memories and the recall of the specifics involved in common events (Carlson,2001). Memory can be classified as short-term and long term, and has declarative, or explicit, and procedural, or implicit, components. Declarative memories include any specifics that relate to particular facts, or events (Squire, 1992). Implicit memories are associated with long-term memories and involve stimulus response and the performance of motor tasks .
that we subconsciously perform. The hippocampus plays an intricate role in the formation of memories by receiving the initial information from sensory related areas of.
the brain, processing the information into memories and then arranging them in a sequence that we are able to utilize in an explicit fashion (Carlson, 2001).