media
video broadcasts
Powered by nature:
Philip is interviewed as part of the Change Maker Series.
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Combining Nature: History, Nature , Community, and Social Enterprise:
Philip is interviewed with Co-Founder of DoorNumberOne.org, Michele Andrews.
This video is produced by www.riverinstitue.ca
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A ten minute flyover of the Hippocampus during the early days of renovations: (part One)
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A four minute flyover of the Hippocampus during the early days of renovations: (part One)
Audio Broadcasts
hippocampus audio tour in French
hippocampus Audio tour in english
Entrepreneur’s towering vision for environmental innovation gaining fans in Maitland
By: Tom Van Dusen
for the Ottawa Business Journal
A rustic stone structure that’s been a towering beacon in a St. Lawrence Seaway community for nearly two centuries is set to become a symbol of cutting-edge economic development thanks to an entrepreneur’s tireless efforts. Not bad for a plan that essentially began on a whim.
The 80-foot former windmill tower in Maitland, a village five kilometers east of Brockville, was built by businessman and politician George Longley in 1827. Next to the imposing structure is Chart House, a stone building that’s being reconstructed as a showcase for modern design and construction practices.
The man behind the reclamation project is electrical engineer Philip Ling, who… (to read full article)
A Hippo what?
By: Michael Harding
Nestled deep within the brain’s temporal lobes lies a structure with a curious name and a profound purpose: the hippocampus.
Its name, derived from the Greek words hippos (horse) and kampos (sea monster), was bestowed upon it by the 16th-century anatomist Julius Caesar Aranzi, who was struck by its resemblance to the curved form of a seahorse.
For centuries after its initial identification, however, the hippocampus remained an anatomical curiosity, its true significance shrouded in mystery. Early theories incorrectly linked it to the sense of smell due to its proximity to olfactory brain regions.
It wasn’t until the mid-20th century that the hippocampus would emerge from obscurity to become one of the most studied regions of the brain, fundamentally reshaping our understanding of memory.
The pivotal moment in the history of the hippocampus came with the tragic case of Henry Molaison, known in scientific literature as Patient H.M. In 1953, in a drastic attempt to cure his debilitating epilepsy, surgeons removed most of his hippocampi. The surgery successfully reduced his seizures, but at a devastating cost:
Molaison was left with profound anterograde amnesia, a complete inability to form new long-term memories. He could remember his childhood and events prior to the surgery, but he could not retain new facts, faces, or experiences for more than a few moments. He was, in a sense, permanently stuck in the present.
The study of Patient H.M. over several decades provided unprecedented insight into the function of the hippocampus. It became clear that this structure was not the ultimate storage site of memories, but rather a critical gateway for their formation.
The hippocampus is responsible for memory consolidation, the process of converting fragile, short-term memories into stable, long-term ones that are then stored in other areas of the cerebral cortex.
Molaison could still learn new motor skills, a type of unconscious memory known as procedural memory, demonstrating that the hippocampus is specifically crucial for declarative memories—the conscious recall of facts and events.
Beyond its role as a memory architect, the hippocampus is also our brain’s internal GPS. Research in the 1970s revealed the existence of “place cells” within the hippocampus of rats. These specialized neurons fire when an animal is in a specific location in its environment, creating a mental map of its surroundings. This function is essential for spatial navigation, allowing us to remember routes, find our way, and understand our position in the world. Studies of London taxi drivers, with their encyclopedic knowledge of the city’s complex streets, have shown they possess larger posterior hippocampi, further cementing the link between this structure and spatial memory.
From a “seahorse monster” of unknown purpose to the master conductor of our memories and internal navigator, the hippocampus holds the keys to much of what makes us who we are. It weaves the tapestry of our personal history, allowing us to learn from the past and navigate the future. The story of its discovery and the gradual unraveling of its functions is a testament to the intricate and beautiful complexity of the human brain.
Molaison's Seahorse in the brain
