Distal CA1 maintains a more coherent spatial representation than proximal CA1 when local and global cues conflict

Entorhinal cortical projections show segregation along the transverse axis of CA1, with the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) sending denser projections to proximal CA1 (pCA1) and the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) sending denser projections to distal CA1 (dCA1). Previous studies have reported functional segregation along the transverse axis of CA1 correlated with the functional differences in MEC and LEC. pCA1 shows higher spatial selectivity than dCA1 in these studies. We employ a double rotation paradigm, which creates an explicit conflict between local and global cues, to understand differential contributions of these reference frames to the spatial code in pCA1 and dCA1. We show that pCA1 and dCA1 respond differently to this local-global cue conflict. pCA1 shows incoherent response consistent with the strong conflicting inputs it receives from MEC and distal CA3 (dCA3). In contrast, dCA1 shows a more coherent rotation with global cues. In addition, pCA1 and dCA1 display comparable levels of spatial selectivity in this study. This finding differs from the previous studies, perhaps due to richer sensory information available in our behavior arena. Together these observations indicate that the functional segregation along proximodistal axis of CA1 is not merely of the amount of spatial selectivity but that of the nature of the different inputs utilized to create and anchor spatial representations.