01:146:295 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Substantia Nigra, Basal Ganglia, Subthalamic Nucleus
17 Jun 2020
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Document Summary
The basal ganglia are a collection of structures which includes the substantia nigra, subthalamic nucleus, globus pallidus, striatum and the vl nucleus of thalamus. The basal ganglia regulates the activity of the motor cortex. When the motor cortex is too activated (creating muscle contractions that aren"t useful or helpful) or not active enough, the basal ganglia regulates it. Disorders such as parkinson disease, tourette"s disease and huntington"s disease are all related to disfunction within the basal ganglion. In parkinson"s disease there is trouble initiating movement, tremors at rest, in this disease there is too much inhibition of the motor cortex. In tourette"s the motor cortex is too activated and not toned down enough by the basal ganglion. Suffers of tourette"s disease experience lots of motor and vocal ticks (muscle contractions that don"t fill any function). The basal ganglia seems to initiate wanted movement and block unwanted movement. The basal ganglia form part of a loop.
