part of spinal cord motor neuron differentiation somatic motor neuron differentiation lateral motor column neuron differentiation GO:0021525 biological_process The process in which differentiating motor neurons in the neural tube acquire the specialized structural and/or functional features of lateral motor column neurons. Lateral motor column neurons are generated only on limb levels and send axons into the limb mesenchyme. Differentiation includes the processes involved in commitment of a cell to a specific fate.