BASAL GANGLIA

Components of the Basal Ganglia

 Caudate
 Putamen
 Globus pallidus
 Nucleus accumbens
 Olfactory Tubercle
Definition of Terms
 CORPUS STRIATUM –
caudate+putamen+globus pallidus

 STRIATUM/ DORSAL STRIATUM/

NEOSTRIATUM – caudate+putamen
(“striped”)

 PALLIDUM/ PALEOSTRIATUM –
globus pallidus (“pale”)
Definition of Terms
 LENTIFORM NUCLEUS – putamen+globus
pallidus (“lentil shaped”)

 VENTRAL STRIATUM–
caudate+putamen+nucleus
accumbens+olfactory tubercle

 Extrapyramidal System – basal ganglia and

their connections
Connections of the Basal Ganglia
 Red nucleus
 Subthalamic nuclei
 Substatia nigra
 Reticular formation
Neostriatum (Striatum)

Caudate + Putamen
Caudate Nucleus
 C-shaped
 Head (expanded rostrum) – bulges
into the anterior horn of the lateral
ventricle
 Body
 Tail – roof of the inferior horn of the
lateral ventricle
Putamen
 “shell”
 Lateral part of lentiform nucleus
 Lateral to globus pallidus; medial to
external capsule
 Separated from caudate by internal
capsule
 Continuous with head of caudate at
anterior limb of internal capsule
Types of Neurons
 Aspiny
 Spiny
Aspiny Neurons
 Intrinsic (interneurons)
 Large aspiny (Ach) – Huntington’s
Chorea
 Small aspiny (GABA)
Spiny Neurons
 Principal (projection)
 Majority (90%)
 GABA, taurine, substance P,
enkephalin, neurotensin, dynorphin,
CCK
 Lost in Huntington’s
Dopamine Receptors
 D2 – mediate antipsychotic effects of
neuroleptic drugs
-- feedback control of
dopaminergic transmission
 D1 -- Parkinsons
Compartments
 Patches (Striosomes)
 Matrix
 Striosomes Matrix
AchEsterase light heavy
Staining
Cell development early Late
input Medial frontal Cortex(sensorimo
cortex, limbic tor,
cortex, SNc, supplementary
ventral SNr motor,
association,
limbic),
intralaminar
thalamic nuclei,
ventral tegmental
area, dorsal SNr
Output SNc SNr, globus
pallidus
 Striosomes Matrix

Neuro- GABA GABA

transmitter

Neuromodulat Neurotensin, Somatostatin,

or dynorphin, enkephalin,
substance P substance P
Dopamine D1 D2
Receptor
Neostriatal Inputs
 Corticostriate Projection
 Mesencephalostriate Projection
 Thalamostriate Projection
Corticostriate Projection
 Most massive
 Topographically organized
1. sensorimotor
2. associative
3. limbic
Neostriatal Inputs
 Corticostriate Projection
 Mesencephalostriate Projection
 Thalamostriate Projection
 Neostriatum
Sensorimotor Association Limbic

GLU GLU

THALAMUS THALAMUS
Centromedian Nucleus Parafascicular Nucleus
Neostriatal Output
 Substantia nigra pars reticulata
 Globus pallidus
 Ventral pallidum
 Substantia nigra pars compacta
 GABA
Globus Pallidus & Substantia
Nigra
Globus Pallidus
 Globus “ball or round mass”
 Pallidus “pale”
 Between putamen and internal
capsule
 External pallidal lamina
 Internal pallidal lamina
Substantia Nigra Pars Reticulata
 “black substance”
 Iron compounds
 Between cerebral peduncle &
midbrain tegmentum
 Ventral zone of substantia nigra
Globus Pallidus & SNr
 Morphologically & chemically similar
 Most neurons are large multipolar
projection neurons
 GABA
 GPe + SNr – head & neck
 GPi – arm & leg
Pallidal & Nigral Inputs
 Striatopallidal Projections
 Striatonigral Projections
Pallidal & Nigral Outputs
 Major
 Minor
– Nucleus Tegmenti Pedunculopontis
– Habenular Nucleus
– Superior Colliculus
 Side Track
Pallidothalamic Fiber Routes
 Lenticular Fasciculus (H2 field of
Forel)
 Ansa Lenticularis
Ansa lenticularis Lenticular Fasciculus

Prerubral field (H field of Forel)

Thalamic Fasciculus (H1 field of Forel)

Ventral anterior
Ventral lateral
Dorsomedial
Intralaminar
 Globus Pallidus & SNr

Neostriatum
Sensorimotor Association Limbic

GLU GLU

THALAMUS THALAMUS
Centromedian Nucleus Parafascicular Nucleus
Pallidal & Nigral Outputs
 Major
 Minor
– Nucleus Tegmenti Pedunculopontis
– Habenular Nucleus
– Superior Colliculus
 Side Track (GPe  subthalamic
nucleus)
Subthalamic Nucleus
 Input:
– GPe
– Cerebral cortex (area 4 &6)
– Reticular formation
– thalamus
 Output:
– GP
– SNr
 Ventral (Limbic) Striatum
 Components
– Nucleus accumbens septi
– Olfactory tubercle
– Ventral caudate
– Putamen
 Input
– Hippocampus
– Amigdala
– Entorhinal & perirhinal cortices (area 28 & 35)
– Anterior cingulate cortex (area 24)
– Medial orbitofronal cortex
– Temporal lobe
 Output
– Ventral pallidum
Corticostriato-thalamocortical
Loops
Functions of the Basal Ganglia
 Motor Function
 Striatum involved in orientation to stimulus &
initiation & control of movement (target
location in space, direction of limb
movement, muscle pattern)
 Automatic execution of learned motor plan
 With the cerebellum  pattern generator &
executor
 Promotes arousal of the motor system
 Involves the putamen, GPi, SNr, subthalamus
(responsive to movement tasks)
Gating Function
 Gating of sensorimotor processing
Cognitive Function
 Spatial memory (dorsolateral
prefrontal loop)
 Behavior: switches (lateral
orbitofrontal loop)
Blood Supply
Diseases Associated With the Basal
Ganglia

Hyperkinetic
 Hypokinetic
Hyperkinetic
 Chorea
 Athetosis
 Ballism
 Dystonia
 Tourette Syndrome
Chorea
 Sudden, frequent, involuntary,
purposeless, quick jerks
 Choros -- “a dance”
 Caudate nucleus
 Reduced level of GABA, Ach,
enkephalin, substance P, dynorphin,
CCK
 Sydenham’s Huntington’s

Course Benign, malignant

reversible
Etiology Complication of Hereditary
Rheumatic Fever (chromosome 4)
Involved appendicular truncal
musculature
Milkmaid’s grip present present

Trombone +/- present

tongue
Others children Mental deficiency
(progressive
cognitive
deterioration
Hyperkinetic
 Chorea
 Athetosis
 Ballism
 Dystonia
 Tourette Syndrome
Athetosis
 Slow, writhing, continuous, worm-
like movement of distal extremities
(fingers)
 With bizarre posturing
 Putamen
 Commonly mixed with chorea
(choreoathetosis)
Hyperkinetic
 Chorea
 Athetosis
 Ballism
 Dystonia
 Tourette Syndrome
Ballism
 Ballismos “jump/ throw”
 Sudden, quick, continuous,
unusually violent, flinging in nature,
one side of the body
 Vascular lesion in the subthalamic
nucleus
Hyperkinetic
 Chorea
 Athetosis
 Ballism
 Dystonia
 Tourette Syndrome
Dystonia
 Twisting, slow, contorting, involuntary
movement
 Sustained & often repetitive
 Fixed abnormal posture
1. focal (single body part)
2. segmental (2 or more adjacent parts)
3. generalized
Dystonia
 Writer’s cramp
 Torticollis
 No obvious specific pathology
 Discrete lesions in the striatum
Hyperkinetic
 Chorea
 Athetosis
 Ballism
 Dystonia
 Tourette Syndrome
Tourette Syndorme
 Sudden, brief, involuntary movements
 Motor & vocal tics (gutteral sounds,
grunts, or verbalization of words &
phrases)
 Associated with behavioral
abnormalities (attention deficits &
compulsive, ritualistic behavior)
 Volume reduction in caudate & lentiform
(motor & limbic circuit)
Diseases Associated With the Basal
Ganglia

 Hyperkinetic
 Hypokinetic
Parkinsonism
 Tremor (rhythmic, fine, recurring at a rate of
3-6 cycles/sec, seen in posture than in
motion)
 Rigidity (resistance to passive movement of
a joint through a range of motion – cogwheel
rigidity; inc tone of agonists & antagonists)
 Hypokinesia/ akinesia (diminution/ loss of
associated movements, difficulty in initiating
movement, slow movement)
Thank you