Question

Imagine that you have stumbled across a secret lab where an evil scientist is conducting unauthorized brain research. By altering brain structures, he has created superheroes who have specialized powers or abilities. One of these superheroes has a fantastic memory and is able to remember new info almost instantly. In this case, one of the brain structures that the scientist MOST likely altered would be

a) Hippocampus
b) Amygdala
c) Cerebellum
d) Prefrontal cortex

Answer 1

The hippocampus is the brain structure most likely to have been altered to enhance memory in a superhero, as it is crucial for encoding and storing new memories.

Step-by-step explanation:

If a superhero has a fantastic memory and is able to remember new information almost instantly, the brain structure most likely altered by the scientist in question would be the hippocampus. The hippocampus is associated with the encoding of new memories and the long-term storage of episodic memory. Importantly, the hippocampus works in concert with the medial temporal lobe structures to consolidate short-term memories into long-term memories in the cerebral cortex. This has been demonstrated in studies such as the case of patient HM, who after losing his medial temporal lobes showed deficits in the ability to form new long-term memories while retaining short-term memory abilities, thereby affirming the critical role of the hippocampus in memory formation.