Word: hippocampus
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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EARLY ADULTHOOD 20-30 yrs. By the late 20s, information processing begins to slow down. Memory centers in the hippocampus and frontal lobes seem most affected. However, this change is not usually noticeable until at least...
...HIPPOCAMPUS...
WHAT IT DOES: One of the brain's memory centers. One layer of the hippocampus, the subiculum, helps recognize contexts that represent danger or reward...
...mistake, however, to think that pills alone can soothe your neurochemistry. Remember the cortex? That's where you would expect psychotherapy to work, increasing the repertoire of calming messages that can be passed along to the amygdala. Certain desensitization techniques can also help the brain learn, through the hippocampus, to be less reactive. Of course, you have to do it right. Reliving a trauma too soon after it happened could also make the memory harder to erase...
STRESS-HORMONE BOOST Responding to signals from the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, the adrenal glands pump out high levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Too much cortisol shortcircuits the cells in the hippocampus, making it difficult to organize the memory of a trauma or stressful experience. Memories lose their context and become fragmented...