A small, seahorse-sized area of the brain is responsible for most of our learning and memory. Called the hippocampus, this area is key to many important brain functions, including turning short-term memories into long-term ones, regulating our emotions and making spatial navigation possible – essentially, our ability to plan where to go and how to get there.
As we get older, it’s normal for the hippocampus to shrink somewhat. But with certain health conditions, this volume loss is more rapid. Unsurprisingly, Alzheimer’s disease is one of these conditions.
