title: The lamprey pallium provides a blueprint of the mammalian motor projections from cortex.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  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.
  
  
  RESULTS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: The Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden; Laboratory of Psychobiology, University of Sevilla, Campus Santiago Ramón y Cajal, 41018 Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Ocaña
authors.affiliation: The Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Shreyas M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Suryanarayana
authors.affiliation: The Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saitoh
authors.affiliation: The Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Andreas A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Kardamakis
authors.affiliation: The Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lorenza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Capantini
authors.affiliation: The Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Brita
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.affiliation: The Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: sten.grillner@ki.se.
authors.forename: Sten
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grillner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials; D005260:Female; D007798:Lampreys / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008322:Mammals / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D048428:Petromyzon / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000502:physiology*