Final answer:
The study of Patient H.M. concluded that the hippocampus is responsible for converting immediate (short-term) memories into long-term memories, which is known as memory consolidation.
Step-by-step explanation:
Based on the study of Patient H.M., it has been concluded that the hippocampus converts immediate memories into long-term memories. The significant loss of the ability to form new long-term memories, known as anterograde amnesia, following damage to his medial temporal lobe, which included the hippocampus, suggests the hippocampus is integral in this consolidation process. While short-term and procedural memories were relatively unaffected in H.M.'s case, indicating their reliance on other brain regions, the long-term storage of episodic memory requires the hippocampus and related medial temporal structures, with actual storage in the multimodal integration areas of the cerebral cortex. Therefore, the inability to form new long-term memories while retaining short-term memory capabilities led to the conclusion that the hippocampus is responsible for the consolidation of memories from short-term to long-term storage.