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.

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This paper describes the development of a new biorobotic platform inspired by the lamprey. Design, fabrication and implemented control are all based on biomechanical and neuroscientific findings on this eel-like fish. The lamprey model has been extensively studied and characterized in recent years because it possesses all basic functions and control mechanisms of higher vertebrates, while at the same time having fewer neurons and simplified neural structures. The untethered robot has a flexible body driven by compliant actuators with proprioceptive feedback. It also has binocular vision for vision-based navigation. The platform has been successfully and extensively experimentally tested in aquatic environments, has high energy efficiency and is ready to be used as investigation tool for high level motor tasks.

In vertebrates, the pretectum and optic tectum (superior colliculus in mammals) are visuomotor areas that process sensory information and shape motor responses. Whereas the tectum has been investigated in great detail, the pretectum has received far less attention. The present study provides a detailed analysis of the connectivity and neuronal properties of lamprey pretectal cells. The pretectum can be subdivided roughly into three areas based on cellular location and projection pattern: superficial, central, and periventricular. Three different types of pretectal cells could be distinguished based on neuronal firing patterns. One type, the rapid spike-inactivation cells, preferentially lie within the periventricular zone; the other cell types are distributed more generally. In terms of afferentation, the pretectum receives electro- and mechanoreceptive inputs in addition to retinal input. Histological data reveal that a large number of pretectal cells in the superficial and central areas extend dendrites into the optic tract, suggesting a predominant retinal influence even outside of the normal retinal terminal areas. The pretectum receives inhibitory input from the basal ganglia, and input from the pallium (cortex in mammals) and torus semicircularis. In addition, the pretectum is reciprocally connected with the thalamus, tectum, octavolateral area, and habenula. The main pretectal output is to the reticulospinal nuclei, and thus the pretectum indirectly affects the control of movement. Efference copies of some of this output are relayed to the thalamus and tectum. Overall, its extensive circuitry-especially the reciprocal connectivity with other retinorecipient areas-underlines the importance of the pretectum for sensory integration and visuomotor functions. J. Comp. Neurol. 525:753-772, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The bioinspired approach has been key in combining the disciplines of robotics with neuroscience in an effective and promising fashion. Indeed, certain aspects in the field of neuroscience, such as goal-directed locomotion and behaviour selection, can be validated through robotic artefacts. In particular, swimming is a functionally important behaviour where neuromuscular structures, neural control architecture and operation can be replicated artificially following models from biology and neuroscience. In this article, we present a biomimetic system inspired by the lamprey, an early vertebrate that locomotes using anguilliform swimming. The artefact possesses extra- and proprioceptive sensory receptors, muscle-like actuation, distributed embedded control and a vision system. Experiments on optimised swimming and on goal-directed locomotion are reported, as well as the assessment of the performance of the system, which shows high energy efficiency and adaptive behaviour. While the focus is on providing a robotic platform for testing biological models, the reported system can also be of major relevance for the development of engineering system applications.