There has been substantial progress in our understanding of the hippocampus in the past 70 years. During this time, it has become clear that the hippocampus is not an olfactory-related structure alone, but plays critical roles in other functions that do not necessarily depend on olfaction, such as learning and memory. In addition, it has become clear how important the hippocampus is to a wide variety of neurological disorders and psychiatric illness. Animal models have provided a great resource in such studies, but a frequent question is whether the data from laboratory animals is relevant to man.