Question

Mateo is 70 years old and had a stroke last year. He is now unable to remember what directions enable him to get to and return from his new doctor's office using a specific route. The brain structure that was potentially damaged by the stroke was the ________.

Answer 1

Answer:

c. hippocampus      

Explanation:

The options for this question are missing. The options are:

a. amygdala

b. hypothalamus

c. hippocampus

d. cerebellum

In neurology, the part of our brain that is in charge of transforming short-term memories into long-term memories is the hippocampus. When a person has damage in the hippocampus, the person can experience a loss of the ability to make new memories (because the process of transforming short-term memories into long-term ones is affected) and they can also have loss of memory.  

In this example, Mateo had a stroke and now he is unable to remember the directions that enable him to get to and return from his new doctor's office. We can tell that Mateo goes to the doctor usually and it's a fixed route, however he is experiencing a damage that is affecting the process of transforming short-term memories into long-term ones and thus, he keeps forgetting the route to his doctor's office. Therefore, the brain structure that was potentially damaged (since it's the one in charge of this process) is the hippocampus.