Hippocampal development – Old and new findings

The hippocampus, derived from medial regions of the telencephalon, constitutes a remarkable brain structure. It is part of the limbic system, and it plays important roles in information encoding, related to short-term and long-term memory, and spatial navigation. It has also attracted the attention of many clinicians and neuroscientists for its involvement in a wide spectrum of pathological conditions, including epilepsy, intellectual disability, Alzheimer disease and others. Here we address the topic of hippocampal development. As well as original landmark findings, modern techniques such as large-scale in situ hybridizations, in utero electroporation and the study of mouse mutants with hippocampal phenotypes, add further detail to our knowledge of the finely regulated processes which form this intricate structure. Molecular signatures are being revealed related to field, intra-field and laminar cell identity, as well as, cell compartments expressing surface proteins instrumental for connectivity. We summarize here old and new findings, and highlight elegant tools used to fine-study hippocampal development.