The Journal of comparative neurology
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The intrahippocampal projections of the subicular complex were studied in the rat with the aid of the anterogradely transported lectin Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin (PHA-L). After iontophoretic injections of the lectin into the subiculum proper, presubiculum, or the parasubiculum, axons and terminal processes immunoreactive for PHA-L were traced to their respective terminal fields within the hippocampal region. After subicular injections PHA-L-stained axons could be followed both in a caudal and a rostral direction. ⋯ In addition, a minor projection from the presubiculum to the pyramidal cell layer of the subiculum and to the molecular layer of the hippocampal formation was found. PHA-L injections into the parasubiculum labeled fibers that form a dense innervation of layer II in the MEA and the medial part of the lateral EA, and of the most medial sector of layer III in the MEA. Layer I and the superficial part of layer II of the contralateral MEA also contain a dense terminal network after PHA-L injections into the parasubiculum.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)