3 - Basal Ganglia Flashcards
Basal Ganglia: Refers to structures that yield
distinctive kinds of movement disorders when damaged
Basal Ganglia: Prefixes & suffixes that describes the course of fibers, e.g.:
Striopallidal
Corticostriate
Pallidothalamic
Nigroreticular
Caudate
3 parts: head, body and tail
Putamen coincides with
insula
Globus pallidus has extensive
BG output to thalamus
Structures Related to the Basal Ganglia
Caudate
C-shaped
Part of wall of lateral ventricle
3 parts: head, body and tail
Putamen
Globus pallidus
Substantia nigra
(not shown)
Subthalamus
(not shown)
The caudate nucleus is large nucleus with a
head, body and tail portion. In fact, the word caudate means “having a tail”.
As you can see in panel A, the caudate is the medial part of the striatum and projects into the
lateral ventricle. It has a large head in the anterior horn of the lateral ventricle and it tapers to a tail in the inferior horn of the lateral ventricle. The caudate has numerous interconnections with prefrontal cortex and other cortical association areas as such it is more involved in cognitive functions and less involved in motor functions. How is the shape of the caudate nucleus consistent with its functionality and pattern of connectivity?
Substantia Nigra two parts
compact, reticular
Substantia Nigra: Compact
Densely packed, pigmented neurons
Provides diffuse modulatory, dopaminergic projections to striatum
Substantia Nigra: Reticular
Closer to cerebral peduncle, non-pigmented neurons
A basal ganglia output nucleus
Basal Ganglia Related Movement Disorders: Involuntary movement,
hyperkinetic disorders
Chorea, athetosis, ballismus
Basal Ganglia Related Movement Disorders: Difficult initiating
movement
Basal Ganglia Related Movement Disorders: Perturbed
muscle tone
General ↑in flexor and extensor tone; rigidity of Parkinson’s disease
If tone ↑ in some muscles body can be bent\twisted into abnormal, fixed posture; dystonia
Tone can be decreased as well
Huntington’s Disease (chorea): Degeneration of
striatum (caudate> putamen)
Huntington’s Disease (chorea):
Chorea, rigidity, cognitive disturbances
Huntington’s Disease (chorea): Autosomal
dominant, trinucleotide repeat
Huntington’s Disease (chorea): Age of onset is variable, most at about
50 years of age
4 Basic circuits of the basal ganglia: Circuits include
multiple, parallel loops that modulate cortical output
4 Basic circuits of the basal ganglia: Cortical start & end points determine
loop function: i.e., motor, cognition, limbic (emotion/ motivation)
4 Basic circuits of the basal ganglia: 1. Motor loop:
learned movements
4 Basic circuits of the basal ganglia 2. Cognitive loop:
motor intentions
4 Basic circuits of the basal ganglia 3. Limbic loop:
emotional aspects of movement
4 Basic circuits of the basal ganglia: 4. Oculomotor loop:
voluntary saccades
Basal Ganglia Motor Loop: BG cannot initiate
movements, but active during all movements
Basal Ganglia Motor Loop: Role in motor control is to influence
descending motor pathway, by modulating cortical activity (in motor areas)
- Scales strength of muscle contractions
- With SMA organizes requisite sequences of excitation of motor cortex needed for movement
Basal Ganglia Motor Loop: Two recognized pathways:
Direct pathway- 5 sets of neurons
Indirect pathway- 7 sets of neurons
BG loops: Cognitive loop: Role in
motor learning, planning movements ahead, especially when intended movement is complex