The Deep Brain Connectome
Yu Chen, Babak Kateb in Neurophotonics and Brain Mapping, 2017
The basal ganglia consist of the caudate nucleus, the putamen, the globus pallidus, and the nucleus accumbens. The caudate and putamen, which together comprise the striatum, receive the majority of afferent input to the basal ganglia, including projections from the cortex, the substantia nigra, and the amygdala. The basal ganglia circuitry is notable for consisting of multiple parallel loops involving connections between cortical association areas, through the basal ganglia to the thalamus and back to the cortex. Initially, five parallel circuits were defined: the “motor circuit,” the “oculomotor circuit,” the “dorsolateral prefrontal circuit,” the “lateral orbitofrontal circuit,” and the “anterior cingulate circuit” (Alexander et al. 1986). Since then additional basal ganglia–thalamocortical circuits have been identified. These circuits are integral to motor learning, sequencing of movements, attention, working memory, and learning. Our understanding of the basal ganglia has relied on not only animal models and imaging methods but also, importantly, clinical studies of patient undergoing surgical procedures, which have, sometimes serendipitously, uncovered critical roles for the basal ganglia in modulating human disease.
Review of the Human Brain and EEG Signals
Teodiano Freire Bastos-Filho in Introduction to Non-Invasive EEG-Based Brain–Computer Interfaces for Assistive Technologies, 2020
This section analyzes the circuits that are involved in motor activity, linking different areas of the motor cortex. Actually, the initiation of voluntary movements engages areas in frontal, prefrontal, and parietal cortices, which are connected to the basal nuclei,20 deep in the brain. The basal nuclei receive most of its input signals from the cerebral cortex and return almost all of their output signals to the cerebral cortex. In each hemisphere, the basal nuclei are formed by the caudate nucleus, putamen,21 globus pallidus,22 subthalamic nucleus, and substantia nigra,23 which are located around the thalamus, occupying a large portion of the internal regions of both brain hemispheres (Figure 1.12a). The caudate and putamen together are called the striatum, which is the target from the cortical afference to the basal nuclei [2].
The emotional brain: Combining insights from patients and basic science
Howard J. Rosen, Robert W. Levenson in Neurocase, 2020
Animal studies suggest that the expression of complex, organized somatic and visceromotor activity associated with emotion can be generated by subcortical regions, including hypothalamic and brainstem structures such as the periaqueductal gray matter, without the modulation of higher cortical input (Bard, 1928; Hess, 1954; Panksepp, 1998). Other subcortical structures may play an important role in modulating behavior in response to the presentation of potentially rewarding stimuli, including the striatum (the nucleus accumbens and parts of the caudate nucleus). The striatum is heavily connected with the medial and orbital frontal regions (Tekin & Cummings, 2002) and several amygdaloid nuclei (Cardinal et al., 2002; Zahm, 2000), and appears to participate with these structures in choosing the appropriate response to a stimulus given its association with primary rewards (e.g., food, or other pleasurable outcomes) and the current state of the organism vis-à-vis these rewards (Cardinal et al., 2002).
Newborn differential DNA methylation and subcortical brain volumes as early signs of severe neurodevelopmental delay in a South African Birth Cohort Study
Published in The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 2022
Anke Hüls, Catherine J. Wedderburn, Nynke A. Groenewold, Nicole Gladish, Meaghan J. Jones, Nastassja Koen, Julia L. MacIsaac, David T. S. Lin, Katia E. Ramadori, Michael P. Epstein, Kirsten A. Donald, Michael S. Kobor, Heather J. Zar, Dan J. Stein
While we did not find that altered neonatal brain volumes mediate the association between DNAm and neurodevelopmental delay, we demonstrated that larger neonatal caudate volumes were associated with neurodevelopmental delay at 2 years of age, particularly in motor function. The caudate nucleus is one of the structures that make up the corpus striatum, which is a component of the basal ganglia. The caudate nucleus plays a prominent role in motor processes, and caudate nucleus dysfunction has been found in Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s chorea, dyskinesias, obsessive–compulsive disorder and other movement and cognitive disorders (Schultz 2016). Similarly, studies of children have found that the caudate is involved in executive function processes and is associated with autism spectrum disorders (Voelbel et al. 2006).
Cortical Morphometry and Its Relationship with Cognitive Functions in Children after non-CNS Cancer
Published in Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 2021
Janine S. Spitzhüttl, Martin Kronbichler, Lisa Kronbichler, Valentin Benzing, Valerie Siegwart, Mirko Schmidt, Manuela Pastore-Wapp, Claus Kiefer, Nedelina Slavova, Michael Grotzer, Maja Steinlin, Claudia M. Roebers, Kurt Leibundgut, Regula Everts
Besides the between-group difference in the amygdala volume, we noted a difference in the dorsal striatum, including the caudate nucleus and the putamen, all structures that belong to the basal ganglia. Within the basal ganglia, the striatum is considered a major input structure, receiving input from a wide range of cortical regions associated with perceptual and motor, higher-order executive, and affective-motivational processes.58 Thus, the striatum plays an important role in providing the child with contextual information. The basal ganglia are considered highly metabolically active during childhood and might therefore be particularly susceptible to the effects of cancer and its treatment.59,60 Our data support this suggestion that the striatum may be particularly vulnerable to cancer and its treatment. The importance of the striatum as a relay mechanism might explain its close relations to executive functions in our control sample.
The obsessions of the green-eyed monster: jealousy and the female brain
Published in Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 2021
Nadine Steis, Silvia Oddo-Sommerfeld, Gerald Echterhoff, Aylin Thiel, Jürgen Thiel, Katja Briem, Angela Ciaramidaro, Christine M. Freitag, Axel Mecklinger, Katja Unterhorst, Aglaja Stirn
Compared to self-experienced jealousy (JC), our other-experienced jealousy condition (CC) was more similar to the task given to participants in the study by Takahashi et al. (2006). Because the imagination of a hypothetical infidelity scenario did not elicit the activation patterns we found, our data support Harris’ (2003) analysis of the differences between imagined and self-experienced jealousy at the brain level. However, Sun et al. (2016) found activation patterns similar to those in our study, i.e., activation of caudate nucleus and putamen, which are part of the basal ganglia. In their study, they used hypothetical scenarios as well. It is possible that the sentences used in the study by Takahashi et al. (2006) did not elicit a strong enough emotional reaction to evoke the same activation patterns that were found by us and Sun et al. (2016).
Related Knowledge Centers
- Striatum
- Basal Ganglia
- Brain
- Parkinson's Disease
- Procedural Memory
- Learning
- Inhibitory Control
- Reward System
- Prefrontal Cortex
- Thalamus