The Hippocampus

Some days I feel that people look at me as if I'm odd and I feel that they wonder why I put myself through so much stress doing what I'm doing. Sometimes I just wish I could say…For a start its not anywhere near as stressful as doing any other way for me and second I do what I do to try my absolute best to give my child the best start in life.
Yes I hear you say…don't all parents want the best.

So I come to the question asked of me...

What the heck is a Hippocampus and why should we care about it and more to the point why should I care about my child's Hippocampus?

I have to use this quote "Bet the average kiwi (person) doesn't even know they have a hippocampus, let alone how to look after it!" thank you ;-)

The hippocampus is a part of your brain…a very deep part and an important part.
Here is a link to wiki to see their run down
But I like Daniel Siegel and Mary Hartzell's description of the placement of the hippocampus (authors of Parenting inside and out).
Make a fist with your thumb curled in the middle and fingers wrapped overtop…that’s about where it is in your brain and the shape and size…if your brain was the size of your fist that is.
My first introduction to the hippocampus was from my Dad who was giving a lecture on something to do with the brain and drugs and alcohol and was requesting help in net navigation and finding good pictures to show his class (Dad is a psychologist have a look at his blogs Wisdom Psychology and Merlin's Book Reviews )
How did I remember such a strange name
A Hippo
Going Camping
With Us….

Ok ok I hear you say just tell me ...

What does the Hippocampus do?
To make it quick
· Consolidation of New Memories
· Emotions (I add the development, control and use of … this also links into my post on Infant Brain development)
· Navigation (of your body and your mind)
· Spatial Orientation …this list is from about.com

All right - its important - you might say - and I’m not going to go physically hurting my childs head so there is no danger of any brain damage and hurting the Hippocampus…right?
Brain damage with physical force ie car crash, violence or accident is one way of causing damage but there is also….
An over load or prolonged use of drugs and alcohol
Or you could subject the brain to….

STRESS!!!
Try this article "High stress levels during infancy and early childhood can lead to the poor development of communication zones in brain cells -- a condition found in mental disorders such as autism, depression and mental retardation…." Early life and stress
or …
" Stress is often measured by cortisol, a blood hormone that increases under stress. Research shows a direct connection between the stress of separation and the levels of cortisol in a baby’s blood. Hence, a baby who is left to cry at nighttime without comfort and attention experiences a flood of cortisol in his body. Repeated extreme stress responses can have an adverse effect on brain development. Additionally, neurological studies show us that the pain of emotional separation registers in the same way as physical pain. The pain a baby experiences at being left alone to cry is clearly quite intense…." to read it all the article

It’s no new idea that stress keeps coming up as our biggest problem with many many issues we have with our health later on in life. It is well documented and well discovered that it’s a leading killer in our society.
AND it is the start of our life which sets the stage so to speak for our ability to handle stress.

Being subjected to stress as a baby or a young child (or even an adult) does not seem to make us learn how to handle it more. What it does seem to do is set us up for not handling it at all well- its like a trace element that builds up in the body. Stress erodes/damages or slows the development of the hippocampus and in the developing child this would mean the hippocampus has not had that development it needed in the time that it needed and in many cases can leave us open in the future for Depression, Anxiety along with what some believe leave us susceptible other brain problems like Alzheimer’s, Huntington's and Parkinson's and even Cancer and Diabetes.
These problems can been seen in adults and may at some time be linked to stress - possibly. BUT sadly stress development will probably not be linked back to childhood stress and the amount of cortisol aka the stress hormone - which erodes the development of the hippocampus.
We can see the problems later on in life in adults but there are some factors we can see in stressed younger children through slow growth (being really short compared to your parents and friends) though they may catch up.
There also seems to be a marked slowness in learning ability (such as school work) again they may be able to may catch up, as the brain learns to make new links and go around the damaged areas (this may happen but it may not too).
But really it is something that we should not make our children go through if we want the best for them and for them to do well in their life.

How can we stress our children?
Crying alone – cry it out or controlled crying, unstable family situation – family violence or an angry caregiver (hitting and yelling), constant change of caregivers – daycare or constant changes with no pattern a child can learn…and in some cases the caregiver just not really being available emotionally will give a child high levels of cortisol our stress hormone.