The Clinical Neurobiology of the Hippocampus

The hippocampus is one of the most studied structures in the human brain and plays a pivotal role in human memory function. Its recognized function is reflected by the presence of an extensive body of neurophysiological, neuropsychological, anatomical and neurocomputational literature that presents basic mechanisms, theoretical models and psychological concepts. However, in the rapidly growing field of hippocampal research, the clinical aspects of diseases that affect the hippocampus are greatly under-represented in current literature, and clinical approaches and concepts are scattered throughout various clinical and basic scientific disciplines. The Clinical Neurobiology of the Hippocampus explores clinical approaches to the range of diseases that affect the hippocampus. It brings together and reviews the common methods, clinical findings, concepts, mechanisms and, where applicable, therapeutic strategies for these clinical approaches. The clinical spectrum of hippocampal dysfunction encompasses a wide range of neurological, behavioural and psychiatric symptoms and surpasses the ability to encode, store and retrieve information. The relevance of hippocampal involvement in clinical diseases goes beyond mere neuropsychological deficits and includes psychopathological states in various conditions, such as acute amnesic syndromes, Alzheimer's disease, temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), sleep, stroke medicine, limbic encephalitis, neurodevelopmental disorders, stress- and trauma-related disorders, depression, and schizophrenia. The first part of the book covers the basic and integrative features of the hippocampus, such as the anatomy and imaging of this structure, and the basic mechanisms of hippocampal function, including the principles of hippocampus-dependent memory processing in amnesia and sleep, the mechanisms of vulnerability and adult neurogenesis as well as the effects of stress. The second part covers the various clinical manifestations in which the hippocampus is involved and in which the preceding basic mechanisms are reflected. Bringing together a broad team of experts on the basic and clinical aspects of the hippocampus, the book provides an integrative view of the hippocampus. It is invaluable for neurologists, neuroscientists, and psychiatrists, and will stimulate interdisciplinary discussions in clinical neuroscience.

- 1: Thorsten Bartsch: Introduction: The Hippocampus in the Clinical Neurosciences - 2: Pierre Lavenex: Functional Anatomy, Development, and Pathology of the Hippocampus - 3: Howard Eichenbaum: Amnesia and the Hippocampal Memory System - 4: Elias K. Michaelis: Selective Neuronal Vulnerability in the Hippocampus: Relationship to Neurological Diseases and Mechanisms for for Differential Sensitivity of Neurons to Stress - 5: E. Ronald de Kloet: Stress and the Hippocampus - 6: Gerd Kempermann and Alexander Garthe: Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis: Functional Implications of a 'New' Type of Plasticity - 7: Bradford C. Dickerson and Jean C. Augustinack: Imaging the Hippocampus - 8: Ariane Foret, Laura Mascetti, Caroline Kusse, Mathieu Jaspar, Vincenzo Muto, Anahita Shaffi-Le Bourdiec, Luca Matarazzo, and Pierre Maquet: Sleep, Memory and the Hippocampus - 9: Lan T. Hoang, James P. Lister, and Carol A. Barnes: The Aging Hippocampus - 10: Alexander Prehn-Kristensen, Richard Cooke, Lioba Baving, and Cynthia Schumann: Neurodevelopemental Disorders - 11: Thorsten Bartsch: The Hippocampus in Neurological Disease - 12: Maija Pihlajamäki and Hilkka Soininen: Alzheimer's Disease - 13: Radwa A.B. Badawy and Graeme D. Jackson: Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and the Hippocampus - 14: J. Douglas Bremner and Eric Vermetten: Hippocampus and Post-Traumatic Disorders - 15: Glenda M. MacQueen and Thomas Frodl: The Hippocampus in Major Depression - 16: Peter Falkai, Oliver Gruber, and Andrea Schmitt: Schizophrenia