The hippocampus is at the core of the orienting reflex / navigation and works as a comparator determining whether information should be stored in memory (if it is new) or ignored (if it is old).
The hippocampus forms a specific code about particular locations and landmarks within some coordinate system (reference frames) (provided - at least for spatial information - by the enthrorhinal cortex). This is not restricted to physical space.
The hippocampus integrates the “where” from the Medial EC and the “what” from the Lateral EC. A mechanism that is replicated on a higher level by cortical columns.
Facts
- Contains place cells, landmark cells, boundary cells, head direction cells, band cells, and a few other cell types.
- Under some circumstances neurogenesis is happening here.
- The hippocampus is composed of only 3 cell layers “Allocortex”.
- One notable phenomenon in the hippocampus is hippocampal remapping.
References
How Your Brain Organizes Information - Can We Build an Artificial Hippocampus - Artem Kirsanov