The lamprey pallium provides a blueprint of the mammalian motor projections from cortex

The frontal lobe control of movement in mammals has been thought to be a specific function primarily related to the layered neocortex with its efferent connections. In contrast, we now show that the same basic organization is present even in one of the phylogenetically oldest vertebrates, the lamprey.

Stimulation of specific sites in the pallium/cortex evokes eye, trunk, locomotor, or oral movements. The pallial projection neurons target brainstem motor centers and basal ganglia subnuclei and have prominent dendrites extending into the outer molecular layer. They exhibit the characteristic features of pyramidal neurons and elicit monosynaptic glutamatergic excitatory postsynaptic potentials in output neurons of the optic tectum, reticulospinal neurons, and, as shown earlier, basal ganglia neurons.

Our results demonstrate marked similarities in the efferent functional connectivity and control of motor behavior between the lamprey pallium and mammalian neocortex. Thus, the lamprey motor pallium/cortex represents an evolutionary blueprint of the corresponding mammalian system.