Episodic Memory

Episodic memory is the memory of the time, place and emotional state of events that you experienced. The formation of episodic memories is closely tied to the hippocampus. Without the hippocampus, you would not be able to remember events that you experienced, although you might still be able to use procedural memory to learn new tasks.

It is believed that the hippocampus stores episodic memories for a short time, after which they are consolidated into the cortex. Many researchers believe that episodic memories are transformed into semantic memories over time. This would explain why old memories are often recalled as a kind of pre-written story instead of as a memory of the actual event.