The hippocampus as a ‘‘Stupid,’’ domain-specific module: Implications for theories of recent and remote memory, and of imagination. Can J Exp Psychol Rev Can De Psychol Exp 62:62–79

The hippocampus and surrounding regions of the medial temporal lobe play a central role in all neuropsychological theories of memory. It is still a matter of debate, however, how best to characterise the functions of these regions, the hippocampus in particular. In this article, I examine the proposal that the hippocampus is a “stupid ” module whose specific domain is consciously apprehended information. A number of interesting consequences for the organisation of memory and the brain follow from this proposal and the assumptions it entails. These, in turn, have important implications for neuropsycho-logical theories of recent and remote episodic, semantic, and spatial memory and for the functions that episodic memory may serve in perception, comprehension, planning, imagination, and problem solving. I consider these implications by selectively reviewing the literature and primarily drawing on research my collaborators and I have conducted