BASAL

GANGLIA
BY DR SITI NORDIANA DOLLAH
Basal ganglia
• A large masses of gray matter situated in
the cerebral hemisphere
• Also known as corpus striatum
(anatomically)
• Consist of several large nuclei
Anatomically, BG are consist of
1. Caudate nucleus
2. Lentiform nucleus which inc 2 parts:
i. Putamen (outer part)
ii. Globus Pallidus (inner part)
3. Claustrum
4. Amygdaloid nuclear complex (similar
embryological derivation but functionally
different)
Physiologically BG are considered to
inc:
1. Caudate nucleus
2. Lentiform nucleus
3. Substantia nigra
4. Subthalamus
 BASAL
GANGLIA

CORPUS
STRIATUM AMYGDALA

NEOSTRIATUM PALEOSTRIATUM

CAUDATE GLOBUS
PUTAMEN PALLIDUS
NUCLEUS

LENTIFORM NUCLEUS
 Caudate nucleus
• C-shaped, mass of grey matter
• Consist of large head, body and tapering and
curved tail
• Anatomically, intimately related to lateral
ventricle and follows its curvature
Has 3 portion
1. Head:
• Located deep within frontal lobe
• Largest part
• Forms a greater part of floor of anterior horn of lateral
ventricle
• Anterior part of its head fused inferiorly with lentiform
nucleus
• Almost completely separated from the putamen by internal
capsule
2. Body :
• tapers and become considerally smaller
• located deep within parietal lobe
• Lies in the floor of central part of the lateral
ventricle
• Related medially to the thalamus
• Related laterally to the internal capsule which
separated it from lentiform nucleus
3. Tail
• Located in the roof of inferior horn of lateral ventricle
• Follows the inf horn of lat ventricle into the temporal
lobe
• Long, thin part joins to amygdaloid body
• Anterior end of the tail ends in relations with
amygdaloid complex
Lentiform nucleus
• Lenticular nucleus
• Lens-shaped
• Situated laterally and deep in the hemisphere,
within the central white matter
• Composed of 2 nuclei
1. Putamen laterally
2. Globus pallidus medially
• Related medially to internal capsule and laterally to
external capsule
• Related superiorly to corona radiata and inferiorly
to sublentiform part of internal capsule
• A thin lamena of white matter divided it into
1. Lateral part : Putamen (large)
2. Medial part: Globus Pallidus (small) – further
divided into medial and lateral parts by another layer of
white matter
• Caudate and putamen contains same types of neuron
• Have simillar connection
• Collectively called neostriatum
Putamen
• Lies lateral to internal capsule
• Separated from the globus pallidus by a thin
lamina of nerve fibers (lateral medullary
lamina)
• Lateral to the putamen; claustrum and
external capsule
Claustrum
• A thin layer of gray matter that lies lateral to the
lentiform nucleus (putamen)
• Circular in outline, curved into saucer-shaped
• Separated from the lentiform nucleus by the
external capsule
• Laterally its separated from cortex of insula by a
thin layer of white matter
• Its connection and function are not known
Globus Pallidus
• Lies medial to putamen
• Separated from putamen by lateral
medullary lamina
• Consist of 2 divisons, separated by medial
medullary lamina
• Lateral(external) segment
• Medial (internal) segment
• Medial segment shares many similarities
with the pars reticulata of substantia nigra
Blood supply
• Mainly by anterior perforating artery which
arise from the ant cerebral artery, ant
communicating artery and the region of
origin of the middle cerebral artery
Function of BG
1. Inhibit muscle tone
- Destruction will cause increase muscle rigidity
throughout the body
2. Fx of caudate nucleus and putamen
- They function together to initiate and regulate gross
intentional movement of the body that we perform
unconsciously
- To perform this fx they transmit impulse from 2
different pathways :
A. Globus pallidus  substantia nigra  thalamus 
cerebral cortex  corticospinal and
extracorticospinal pathways
B. Globus pallidus  Subst nigra  reticular
formation  reticulospinal tract
 Striatum (neostriatum)
• Caudate nucleus and putamen
• Best considered as single entity since they
share common neuronal organisation,
neurotransmitter and connections
• Often regarded as input portion of corpus
striatum, since majority of afferents from
other part of the brain end here rather than
globus pallidus
Connection of the striatum (caudate
nucleus and putamen)
• Caudate nucleus and putamen are the ‘input’
portion of the corpus striatum (the main afferent
connections to the BG terminate in the striatum)
• Receive afferents from; cerebral cortex, thalamus
and substantia nigra (pars compacta)
• Efferents fibers are directed to the globus pallidus
and the pars reticulata of substantia nigra
Connection of striatum

I)Striatal afferents
1. Corticostriatal fibres
• Originate fr widespread region of the cerebral cortex
• Motor region of the frontal lobe project mainly to the
putamen
• Other part of frontal lobe and other association cortex
project mainly to the caudate nucleus
 Putamen = motor part of the striatum
 Caudate nucleus = associative function
1. Thalamostriatal projection
2. Nigrostriatal projection
2. Thalamostriatal projection
• Comes fr intralaminar nuclei of ipsilateral nucleus

3. Nigrostriatal projection
• Originates fr pars compacta of the ipsilateral substantia
nigra
• Has both excitatory and inhibitory effect upon striatal
neurones
• Use monoamine dopmine as NT
Connection of striatum:

II)Striatal efferents

• Directed principally to the 2 segments of G

pallidus and pars reticulata of subst nigra
(striatopallidal and striatonigra fibers)
• Inhibitory upon pallidal and nigral neurones
Connection of Globus Pallidus

• 2 segments of G pallidus have similar afferent

connection but substantially different efferent
projection
• Medial segment of g pallidus is very similar to the
pars reticulata of subs nigra; both regarded as
‘output’ portion basal ganglia (they are the origin
of the majority of BG efferent fibres that projet to
other level of neraxis)
I) Pallidal afferents

• Arise principally fr the striatum and

subthalamic nucleus (Striatopallidal and
subthalamopallidal projection)
II) Pallidal efferents

• 2 pallidal segments have different efferent

projections
• Lateral segment projects principally to the
subthalamic nucleus (pallidosubthalamic fibres)
• Medial segment together with pars reticulata of
subst nigra projects primarily to the thalamus
• Both are inhibitory, use GABA as NT
 Function of Basal Ganglia
 Important in:
1. Inhibiting muscle tone throughout the body (proper muscle
tone is maintained by a balance of excitatory and inhibitory
inputs to neurons innervating skeletal muscle)-inhibit
unwanted movement
2. Selecting and maintaining purposeful motor activity while
suppressing useless or unwanted patterns of movement-
planning and programming (abstract thought is converted
into voluntary action)
3. Helping monitor and coordinate slow, sustained
contractions esp related to posture and support
 The basal nuclei receive and send out information
 Tremendous number of fibers linking them to other regions
of the brain
 Disease of basal nuclei
1.Hyperkinetic – excessive and abnormal
movement

 Chorea- rapid, involuntary movement

 Athetosis-continuous, slow writhing
movement
 Ballism/Hemiballism-involuntary
movement that are flailing, intense and
violent
2.Hypokinetic

 Akinesia-difficulty in initiating movement

-decreased spontaneous movement
 Bradykinesia-slowness of movement
• When a movement is initiated from the
cerebral cortex, impulse discharge not only
through the corticospinal and corticobulbar
pathways but also through corticostriatal
projection to the neostriatum (BG)
• This glutamatergic fibres cause excitation of
striatal neurones
• The striatum has 2 routes by which it is able to
control the activity of basal ganglia
Hungtinton’s Dz
 Loss of the GABAergic pathway, permitting hyperkinetic
features
 Autosomal dominant
 Abnormal gene-Chromosome 4
 Features:
1. Early: jerky trajectory of the hand when reaching to touch
a spot, esp towards the end of the reach
2. Later: hyperkinetic choreiform movements, gradually
increasing until they incapacitate the patient
3. Slurred speech
4. Progressive dementia
5. Death 10-25 years after onset of disease
Parkinson’s Dz
1. Increase muscle tone or rigidity
(Increase motor neuron discharge to both agonist and
antagonist muscles) -lead pipe rigidity
-cogwheel rigidity (presence of tremor)
2. Posture:
flexed position (because flexors + gravity)
3. Decreased associated movement (eg: swinging of the arm
during walking)
4. Shuffling gait
5. Involuntary, useless or unwanted movements
-resting tremor: common fingers, hands, lips and tongue
(when emotionally disturb- tremor +++:RFA+)
5. Slowness in initiating and carrying out different motor
behaviour
6. Difficult to stop ongoing activities
7. Hypokinesis /poverty of movement
8. “Poker face”: decrease facial expression (mask-like
appearance)
9. Speech disturbance:
-Decrease voice volume
-monotonus
10.Small handwriting
-micrographia and going up
1st route (direct pathway):Striopallidal and strionigral neurones directly
inhibit medial pallidal or pars reticulata neurone  facilitate the
appropriate movement

Since medial pallida and pars reticulata output neurones are inhibitory
this leads to disinhibition of target neurones inc those of the motor
thalamus

resulting increase in activity of thalamic neurones

Excitation of the cells of the cerebral cortex

Support or facilitate the ongoing movement

2nd route (indirect pathway): striatal neurone can influence the output of
basal ganglia via subthalamic nucleus  inhibit the unwanted
movement

Efferent fr the striatum terminate in the lateral pallidal segment and

the activation induce inhibition of lateral pallidal neurone

The principle efferent projection of the lateral pallidum is to the

subthalamic nucleus which therefore become disinhibited

Increase in discharge of subthalamic neurones

Activation of medial pallidal and nigral neurones

Inhibition of thalamic and cportical cells

Inhibiting unwanted movement

 Amydaloid complex
• Also called amygdaloid body
• Lies deep to uncus and is related to anterior end of
the inferior horn of lateral ventricle
• Consisit of several groups of neurons
• Connected with the tip of tail of caudate nucleus
• Functionally part of limbic system
• Has connection with the frontal and temporal
lobes including olfactory cortex
PRINCIPAL CONNECTION OF CEREBRAL
BASAL GANGLIA CORTEX

G PALLIDUS STRIATUM

SUBTHALAMIC G PALLIDUS
NUCLEI (IS)

SNPR SNPC

BRAIN STEM PEDUNCULO-

AND SPINAL PONTINE THALAMUS
CORD NUCLEI
excitatory
inhibitory
 Functions of thalamus
1. Made up of complicated collection of nerve cells
that are centrally placed in the brain and are
interconnected
2. A vast amount of sensory information of all types
(except olfactory) converges on the thalamus and
is integrated through interconnections btwn
nuclei (as a relay station)
3. Anatomically and functionally the thalamus and
cerebral cortex are closely linked
4. Involved in performance of voluntary movement
(motor control)
5. Concerned with subjective feeling states and the
personality of the individual (limbic system and
memory)
6. Influence the levels of consciousness and
alertness in the individual
Basal ganglia blood supply: