Basal ganglia
Updates to Article Attributes
The basal ganglia are a group of nuclei in the brain that is interconnected with the cerebral cortex, thalami and brainstem.
In a strict anatomical sense it contains three paired nuclei:
- caudate nucleus
- putamen (together with the caudate nucleus known as corpus striatum)
- globus pallidus (together with the putamen known as the lentiform nucleus)
Functionally, two additional nuclei are also part of the basal ganglia:
Radiographic appearances
Basal ganglia are normally isodense/isointense with cortex. Because the globus pallidus has more myelin content compared with the putamen it usually appears slightly more hypo intensehypointense on T2WI, GRE, and SWI images. Age related-related calcium deposition in GP results in, initially increase signalresults in increased T1WI signal intensity in T1WI and subsequently, when calcification reach aboveexceeds 40%, signal loss in all sequences. Ageing with consequent iron deposition in the putamen results in a gradual decrease in signalof T2WI signal intensity ofin the putamen in T2WI. This is more pronounced in patients in their 70s or 80s.
Related pathology
- basal ganglia calcification
- Parkinson disease
- Huntington disease
- Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome
- central pontine myelinolysis
- gliomatosis cerebri
- cerebral microhaemorrhage
See also
-</ul><h4>Radiographic appearances</h4><p>Basal ganglia are normally isodense/isointense with cortex. Because the globus pallidus has more myelin content compared with putamen it usually appears slightly more hypo intense on T2WI, GRE, and SWI images. Age related calcium deposition in GP results in, initially increase signal intensity in T1WI and subsequently, when calcification reach above 40%, signal loss in all sequences. Ageing with consequent iron deposition in putamen results in gradual decrease in signal intensity of the putamen in T2WI. This is more pronounced in patients in their 70s or 80s.</p><h4>Related pathology</h4><ul>- +</ul><h4>Radiographic appearances</h4><p>Basal ganglia are normally isodense/isointense with cortex. Because the globus pallidus has more myelin content compared with the putamen it usually appears slightly more hypointense on T2WI, GRE, and SWI images. Age-related calcium deposition in GP initially results in increased T1WI signal intensity and subsequently, when calcification exceeds 40%, signal loss in all sequences. Ageing with consequent iron deposition in the putamen results in a gradual decrease of T2WI signal intensity in the putamen. This is more pronounced in patients in their 70s or 80s.</p><h4>Related pathology</h4><ul>