The basal ganglia are composed of the caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus, subthalamic nucleus, and substantia nigra. These structures are wll-known to influence movement and muscle tone as indicated by their dysfunction in Parkinson's and Huntington's disease, but they are also integral elements of circuits mediating advanced cognitive functions, attention, and affective states. Of the basal ganglia sections, simply the caudate, putamen, and global pallidus are considerable adequate to be readily quantifiable by MRI. Like frontal and parietal cortical gray matter, the basal ganglia commonly decrease in volume at some stage in the teen ages.
Source: Encyclopedia of human brain, Volume 1 (Antonio R Damasio)
