What happens when you remove the hippocampus? - Sam Kean TED-Ed TED-Ed

https://youtu.be/KkaXNvzE4pk Start at: 1:56 Published on Aug 26, 2014 View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-happen... When Henry Molaison (now widely known as H.M.) cracked his skull in an accident, he began blacking out and having seizures. In an attempt to cure him, daredevil surgeon Dr. William Skoville removed H.M.'s hippocampus. Luckily, the seizures did go away — but so did his long-term memory! Sam Kean walks us through this astonishing medical case, detailing everything H.M. taught us about the brain and memory. Lesson by Sam Kean, animation by Anton Bogaty. Category Education License Standard YouTube License SHOW LESS COMMENTS • 423 Oscar del Rosario Add a public comment... Top comments Orchidahus Orchidahus2 years ago Great job. What's the name behind all those animations ? Reply 82 View all 3 replies Jjnettes Sullivan Jjnettes Sullivan2 years ago Un Reply 1 Vincent Apple Vincent Apple8 months ago +PythonGB Cool Reply 1 Sad Walrus Sad Walrus9 months ago replace it with a hippouniversity Reply 42 mat liki kasim mat liki kasim7 months ago lmao Reply Cooks With Spoons Cooks With Spoons2 months ago Was that ethical to cut an area out of someone's brain without knowing what would happen? Reply 1 F M F M1 month ago I remember an interview with him where he declared he had given consent for continued research of his brain, but it was highly controversial if a man who had memory problems could properly give consent, plus they did not approach any close relative of H.M. Reply 2 AliceVargas97 AliceVargas971 month ago Cooks With Spoons I study psychology and 2 of my professors told us about this case a week ago. It was not ethical however the operation happened in early 50s. They didn't have regulations like we have nowadays (doctors performed lobotomies and tried conversion therapies, read about 'Little Albert' aka a few scientists made a few months old child fear fluffy things etc.) Actually it was even worse than it seems because the guy who performed this operation had thought that hippocampus MIGHT be the area in HM's brain that may cause his condition. Dude had only suspicions he had no idea what would have actually happened if he removed it. Read more Reply 1 Jyothir Adithya Jyothir Adithya1 month ago I feel sad for that guy Reply 3 Rae Rae Rae Rae3 weeks ago Dr. Strange... you've met your match. Reply 3 Chris Read Chris Read3 months ago they got his consent for all that stuff after he died right? or did they simply say they did? Reply 1 Cooks With Spoons Cooks With Spoons2 months ago (edited) That's a good question. It sounds like he was well exploited for science, which is worthy, but what was his benefit if any and did he consent? We know that he was harmed in losing memory function. Reply Maxim C. Maxim C.2 months ago Could anybody give some advices on how to improve hippocampus's activity or where to read interesting materials regarding hippocampus, researches on it etc? Please. Thank you. Reply justsomeawesome dude justsomeawesome dude3 weeks ago so the doctor just perform a surgical test of removing his hippocampus!?! without any knowledge what might it done for the body?!? what if the hippocampus was responsible for motor movement that kid would have been worse then before (paralyzed for rest of his life) I mean even the doctor was surprised about his memory lose and not gaining new info but what if it was motor problem? man doctors look careless back then! (not sure about now though?) Read more Reply mlg360 ProShooter mlg360 ProShooter1 week ago justsomeawesome dude It was for the sake of science! Reply justsomeawesome dude justsomeawesome dude1 week ago +mlg360 ProShooter still no good reason for a person XD Reply Hitman Target Hitman Target2 weeks ago which side of hippocampus was removed?? left or right. It would be helpful if someone has idea about removal of right hippocampus and amygdala.. Reply GregoryTheGr8ster GregoryTheGr8ster7 months ago I am NEVER going to allow someone to take my hippocampus out of my skull! Only from my cold, dead hands! Reply 1 View all 5 replies 2Awesome 2Awesome5 months ago So you are going to remove it yourself and keep a hold of it your entire life? Reply 1 GregoryTheGr8ster GregoryTheGr8ster5 months ago +2Awesome Um, that's a good point, now that you mention it. I'm not quite sure how I am going to hold on to my hippocampus. It's highly likely that my hands would already be cold and dead if I tried to do so. Oh dear. Reply 6 Terence Terence3 months ago Why did Dr. Scoville choose to remove the hippocampus out of the many parts of the brain? The video explained he was doing a partial lobotomy, but it was usually done on the pre-frontal cortex to damage the connections of it. Can anyone explain it do me? Reply 2 Jacki Lara Jacki Lara2 months ago the patient had an epilepsy due to an accident which caused damage to the hippocampus. It's called "temporal lope epilepsy". He had to remove the hippocampus in order to " heal" the epilepsy. X Greetings from Germany Reply 3 Prin Nana Prin Nana1 year ago aww I feel bad for him. it's like the meaning of his life was only there to be used Reply 65 View all 15 replies 2Awesome 2Awesome5 months ago Would you rather suffer from seizures your entire life or be able to enjoy your life with a horrific memory and help medical science understand ways to help people with severe neurological conditions? Reply 6 ديمة .ع ديمة .ع4 months ago It mentioned that he forgot a lot of his memory. Reply Muslimtaytoes {Random Vids} Muslimtaytoes {Random Vids}5 months ago SEPTEMBERFEST. Reply Ivan Rojowski Ivan Rojowski3 months ago ....but somehow, very conveniently he never forgot to speak English :\ How language is not forgotten ? F* my grammar Reply 1 View all 3 replies Emma Jane Emma Jane1 month ago Things that you learn like languages or speech are in a different area of the brain to episodic memories. Reply Ivan Rojowski Ivan Rojowski3 weeks ago Oh O.K, Got it now Reply Yuzukhane Yuzukhane2 months ago Where can I have this surgery? Reply 1 SaintSinner SaintSinner6 months ago So what part of the brain does declarative memory rely on then? Reply Janelle Manabat Janelle Manabat2 months ago the frontal lobe and the hippocampus Reply Tayloraurrekoetxea Tayloraurrekoetxea1 year ago How can he follow a 90 minute movie then? Reply 55 View all 9 replies haileyxin haileyxin6 months ago he only watched the trailers lol Reply 2 2Awesome 2Awesome5 months ago he only has to watch the trailers over and over again, no need to buy the movie lol Reply 1 BackToTheFutureeee BackToTheFutureeee2 months ago You know, I wish you could see people's memories. Because I would become a neurologist and remove everyone's memory of friends and family and convince them I'm their queen. <3 <3 <3 Reply 1 M zaheer M zaheer4 months ago did his family sued the doctor? Reply jack philip jack philip5 months ago Momento Reply 2 Eli Liberman Eli Liberman5 months ago memento Reply 3