Tamir Eliav

Abstract The hippocampus is crucial for spatial memory and navigation. It contains place cells1,2,3,4,5,6,7: spatially selective neurons found in areas CA1 and CA3—two distinct hippocampal subregions with substantially different anatomical connectivity8. Previous studies have found highly similar spatial coding between CA1 and CA3 place cells3,9,10,11. This raises the question of why two subregions that form consecutive processing stages would exhibit identical neural coding.

Hippocampal theta oscillations were proposed to be important for multiple functions, including memory and temporal coding of position. However, previous findings from bats have questioned these proposals by reporting absence of theta rhythmicity in bat hippocampal formation. Does this mean that temporal coding is unique to rodent hippocampus and does not generalize to other species?