Hippocampal formation

The hippocampal formation is a compound structure in the medial temporal lobe. There is no consensus concerning which brain regions are encompassed by the term, with some authors defining it as the dentate gyrus, the hippocampus proper and the subiculum; and others including also the presubiculum, parasubiculum, and entorhinal cortex.

The hippocampal formation is thought to play a role in memory, spatial navigation, and control of attention. The neural layout and pathways within the hippocampal formation are very similar in all mammals.

The perforant path or perforant pathway, provides a connectional route from the entorhinal cortex to all fields of the hippocampal formation, including the dentate gyrus, all CA fields (including CA1), and the subiculum.