The hippocampal formation has a unique and highly distributed network of intrinsic connections. What are the principles of organization that govern information flow through this system? The notion that information processing in the hippocampal formation is segregated in autonomous chips or lamellae appears to be inconsistent with the extremely divergent nature of many of the intrinsic connections. Recent neuroanatomical data suggest, however, that information may be segregated in other ways as it negotiates the links from one hippocampal region to the next.