Understanding long-term changes in the synapses between the hypothalamus and hippocampus

The complexity of the human brain is unparalleled. Fortunately, thanks to constant progress in neuroscience over the past decades, we have started to make some sense of it. For instance, we now know that neuronal synapses can undergo long-lasting changes in response to their activity and that of nearby neurons, and it is believed this "synaptic plasticity" is one of the key mechanisms behind learning and memory.