hippocampus

/ˈhɪpəˌkæmpəs/

/hɪpəˈkæmpəs/

Other forms: hippocampi

A hippocampus is a complex neural structure that's part of the brain. Your brain has two hippocampi, and they're important for memories and emotions.

This word has a complex history. Originally, it meant a seahorse, and it has also meant a small fish that resembles a seahorse. That resemblance is why the brain structures known as the hippocampus major and hippocampus minor have that name: they look kind of like seahorses too. The hippocampi are found on the floor of your brain's ventricles, and they are vital to feeling and remembering. Without your hippocampi, you wouldn't be who you are.

Definitions of hippocampus

1. noun

   a complex neural structure (shaped like a sea horse) consisting of grey matter and located on the floor of each lateral ventricle; intimately involved in motivation and emotion as part of the limbic system; has a central role in the formation of memories
   type of:

   neural structure

   a structure that is part of the nervous system