Basal Ganglia





         Other

    Spinal Cord

     Skull

  Ventricular System

The five neuroanatomical divisions of the basal ganglia (or nuclei) are the (1) putamen, (2) caudate nucleus, (3) subthalamic nucleus, (4) globus pallidus and (5) substantia nigra. The basal ganglia are white matter structures which play a crucial role in body movement. Damage to these structures can lead to disorders of movement such as hemiballismus, Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. The ventral portions of the basal ganglia (more specifically the ventral striatum and nucleus accumbens) have important roles in limbic functioning. They project information bound for cingulate and orbitofrontal cortices to the ventral pallidum and dorsomedial nuclei of the thalami. As the diagram to the right demonstrates, information arriving at the basal ganglia enters through the putamen and caudate nucleus, structures collectively referred to as the striatum. This information is sent from the striatum to the substantia nigra and subthalamic nucleus. Limbic_System.htmlLimbic_System.htmlshapeimage_7_link_0shapeimage_7_link_1