{
  "abstract": "The medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) transforms multimodal inputs into spatial representations, but the synaptic architecture underlying its computations remains unclear. Here we generated a synapse-resolution connectomic dataset spanning all six layers of mouse MEC and the adjacent parasubiculum with serial electron microscopy, providing a continuous volume for mapping cellular organization and connectivity across layers and regions. We found that clustered pyramidal neurons in MEC layer II extended oblique apical dendrites with a dorsolateral bias and long-range myelinated axons within the layer. Exhaustive reconstruction of one cluster revealed a central exclusion core (ExC) that spatially partitioned basal dendritic architecture and synaptic connectivity. A spatially constrained growth model reproduced the position-dependent dendritic patterns. Within the ExC, pyramidal neurons formed a compact recurrent excitatory network and converged onto shared inhibitory partners. Basket cells (BC) and recurrent Martinotti cells provided perisomatic and apical-dendritic feedback, respectively. Dense, compact reciprocal connectivity between L2P neurons and BCs within the ExC, together with BC axonal bands extending beyond the ExC, suggests a potential circuit mechanism for generating temporally structured inhibitory output from the pyramidal-cell cluster along directionally extended axons. Together, these findings link cellular-scale geometry and synaptic wiring to emergent circuit dynamics that extend from dense computation within individual clusters to region-wide modulation, providing a connectomic foundation for understanding the circuit basis of spatial navigation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Intelligent Processing, Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Cente"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 8,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "T. Shi"
    },
    {
      "name": "Y. Chen"
    },
    {
      "name": "H. Jin"
    },
    {
      "name": "H. Jiang"
    },
    {
      "name": "X. Chen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Z. Xiong"
    },
    {
      "name": "F. Wu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "R. Zhang"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bff2jva3htaet.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.28.762527",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762527v1.full",
  "id": "bff2jva3htaet",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762527v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "neuroscience"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762527v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-28",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bff2jva3htaet.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-03T12:21:11Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.28.762527",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762527v2"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:neuroscience",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "A medial entorhinal connectome reveals compartmentalized microcircuit architecture",
  "title_text": "A medial entorhinal connectome reveals compartmentalized microcircuit architecture",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-05T00:21:10Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bff2jva3htaet",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}