Decoding the Brain Mystery - The Molecular Theory of the Mind

Author: Chen Dingxue
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: Why is the hippocampus considered a "brain display"? For many years, many neuroscientists have studied the hippocampus, with most of their attention focused on its relationship with memory. Few have linked the hippocampus to the brain's "display," so the "hippocampus display hypothesis" is a bold one. However, it is not baseless speculation or imagination; there are many facts and experiments that can support this hypothesis. (1) Among all senses, vision holds the most significant importance, as at least 70% of external information is received, processed, and perceived by the visual system. For animals, among all visual information, image information is the most important, as it is essential for survival activities such as finding food, avoiding predators, mating, and raising offspring. Without the image of food, animals find it difficult to locate it; failing to see the image of a predator in time can easily cost an animal its life. Thus, image information is the most crucial for animal survival. The primary function of the hippocampus is likely to be displaying images, meaning the hippocampus is the "display" in the brain. Neuroscientist Kada's experiments clearly illustrate this point. To understand the function of the hippocampus, Kada conducted an experiment where he destroyed the hippocampus in a rat's brain. As a result, the experimental rat could no longer navigate the maze to find food as normal rats could. Since the hippocampus is the brain's image "display," when it is destroyed, the rat's brain cannot display the image of the maze or food, making it unable to navigate the maze to find food. P123