Has the hippocampus really forgotten about space?

Several lines of evidence, including the discovery of place cells, have contributed to the notion that the hippocampus serves primarily to navigate the environment, as a repository of spatial memories, like a drawer full of charts; and that in some species it has exapted on this original one an episodic memory function. We argue that recent evidence questions the primacy of space, and points at memory load, whether spatial or not, as the challenge that mammalian hippocampal circuitry has evolved to meet.

Automated summary

The hippocampus is not only used for navigating the environment and storing spatial memories, but may also play a role in episodic memory. Recent evidence questions the primacy of space and suggests that the challenge for mammalian hippocampal circuitry lies in handling memory load, whether spatial or not.