Hippocampal formation

The hippocampus is a highly homologous structure across all mammals. In pig the main part of the hippocampis is located in the temporal lobe and extending almost to the base of the brain to the amygdala, while the entire region extends dorsal to the end of the diencephalon. The hippocampus is important in recollection of facts and formation of new (including spatial) memories. In fact, long-term potentiation (modifications in synaptic strength as a result of neural activity) in certain parts of the hippocampus has been suggested as a storage mechanism for memory. Information flows into and through the hippocampus through the following principal pathways: 1- the perforant pathway from the entorhinal cortex to granule cells of the dentate gyrus; 2- the mossy fiber pathway from the granule cells of the dentate gyrus to the pyramidal cells of the CA3 region; 3- the Schaffer collateral pathway from the CA3 to the CA1 region.