Final answer:
The hippocampus is located in the medial temporal lobes; the damage causes anterograde and potentially retrograde amnesia. H.M., who had his hippocampus removed, could not form new episodic memories but retained procedural and short-term memory. Brenda Milner's studies on H.M. showcased the critical role of the hippocampus in memory consolidation.
Step-by-step explanation:
Hippocampus Location and Associated Syndromes
The hippocampus is located within the medial temporal lobes of the brain. Damage to the hippocampus often causes anterograde amnesia, a condition characterized by an inability to form new memories, while sometimes also causing partial retrograde amnesia, which is the loss of pre-existing memories.
The Case of Henry Molaison (H.M.)
Henry Molaison, known as patient H.M., underwent a bilateral lobectomy to remove his hippocampus and amygdala to treat his epilepsy. The surgery resulted in H.M. developing anterograde amnesia, rendering him unable to form new episodic memories but still able to learn procedural tasks, despite having no memory of learning them.
Brenda Milner's Contribution to Understanding the Hippocampus
Brenda Milner studied H.M. and demonstrated the different roles of memory processing in the brain. Her work indicated that while H.M.'s ability to form new long-term episodic memories was impaired, he retained the capacity to form short-term memories and procedural memories. This shed light on the role the hippocampus plays in the consolidation of new learning into explicit, long-term memory.