Entorhinal cortex

From Psy3242

Overview

One of the first areas to be affected by Alheimer's Disease, the entorhinal cortex plays a crucial role in memory, specifically memory consolidation (the process in which short-term memories are organized and stored as a piece of long-term memory), and memory optimization during sleep. It forms the main input to the hippocampus (commonly called the memory center).

This image shows the location of the Entorhinal cortex (located near the hippocampus).

-The entorhinal cortex relays information to and from the hippocampus. The hippocampus maintains interconnections with the with the neocortical multi-modal associations areas of the temporal, frontal, and parietal lobes, via the entorhinal cortex.

-The human entorhinal cortex is located in the ventromedial portion of the temporal lobe and consists of eight subfields. It has reciprocal connections with the hippocampus and various other cortical and subcortical structures, and thus forms an integral component of the medial temporal lobe memory system. The entorhinal cortex is damaged in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and also in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Sources

Wikipedia