Interestingly, the hippocampus is one of the few regions of the brain where neurogenesis occurs into adulthood (at least this has been shown in lab animals, the last time I looked at the literature we had yet to come up with a definitive experiment to *ethically* show this in humans).
Its role in egocentric/allocentric navigation is well understood, and perhaps gets even more interesting when considering how it changes in clinical cases of defect such as depression, anxiety, or PTSD in soldiers. In these conditions, more neurons die than are generated, which literally shrinks the hippocampus - therapeutics such as SSRI's and exercise trigger neurogenesis, causing it to grow.
Considering the cognitive aspects of these defect conditions, one could argue the capacity for sensing "now", that is, instantaneous navigation and situational awareness - both literally and figuratively one's place in the world - are impaired by reduced processing hardware in this region. Its neighboring amygdala region of the brain and its limbic functions may also play an important role in ontology of the self.
Perhaps this is could be a nice thread to pull on for further evidence or impact of cognitive maps.
Interestingly, the hippocampus is one of the few regions of the brain where neurogenesis occurs into adulthood (at least this has been shown in lab animals, the last time I looked at the literature we had yet to come up with a definitive experiment to *ethically* show this in humans).
Its role in egocentric/allocentric navigation is well understood, and perhaps gets even more interesting when considering how it changes in clinical cases of defect such as depression, anxiety, or PTSD in soldiers. In these conditions, more neurons die than are generated, which literally shrinks the hippocampus - therapeutics such as SSRI's and exercise trigger neurogenesis, causing it to grow.
Considering the cognitive aspects of these defect conditions, one could argue the capacity for sensing "now", that is, instantaneous navigation and situational awareness - both literally and figuratively one's place in the world - are impaired by reduced processing hardware in this region. Its neighboring amygdala region of the brain and its limbic functions may also play an important role in ontology of the self.
Perhaps this is could be a nice thread to pull on for further evidence or impact of cognitive maps.