Caudate nucleus
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| Brain: Caudate nucleus | ||
|---|---|---|
| Transverse Cut of Brain (Horizontal Section), basal ganglia is blue | ||
| Latin | nucleus caudatus | |
| NeuroNames | hier-208 | |
| MeSH | A08.186.211.730.885.105.487.550.184 | |
The caudate nucleus is a telencephalic nucleus located within the basal ganglia in the brain. The caudate, originally thought to primarily be involved with control of voluntary movement, is now known to be an important part of the brain's learning and memory system.
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[edit] Physiology
The caudate nuclei are located near the center of the brain, sitting astride the thalamus. There is a caudate nucleus within each hemisphere of the brain. Individually, they resemble a C-shape structure with a wider head at the front, tapering to a body and a tail. (Sometimes a part of the caudate nucleus is referred to as genu <ref>E. H. Yeterian, D. N. Pandya, "Corticostriatal connections of extrastriate visual areas in rhesus monkeys," The Journal of Comparative Neurology 352(3):436-457, 1995. PMID: 7706560</ref>).
The head and body of the caudate nucleus form the part of the floor of the anterior horn of the lateral ventricle. After the body travels briefly towards the back of the head, the tail curves back toward the anterior, forming the roof of the inferior horn of the lateral ventricle. This means that a coronal (on the same plane as the face) section that cuts through the tail will also cross the body (or head) of the caudate nucleus.
The caudate nucleus is related anatomically to a number of other structures. It is separated from the lenticular nucleus (made up of the globus pallidum and the putamen) by the internal capsule. Together the caudate and putamen form the striatum.
[edit] Neurochemistry
The caudate nucleus is highly innervated by dopamine neurons. These neurons originate mainly from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the substantia nigra pars compacta (SN). There are also additional inputs from various association cortices.
[edit] Caudate Function
[edit] Learning and Memory
Historically, the basal ganglia as a whole has been implicated in higher-order motor control (eg, <ref>Wilson SAK. 1912. An experimental research into the anatomy of the corpus striatum. Brain 36:427-92</ref>). More recently, it has been demonstrated that the caudate is highly involved in learning and memory <ref>Graybiel AM (2005) The basal ganglia: learning new tricks and loving it. Curr Opin Neurobiol 15:638-644.</ref>, particularly regarding feedback processing <ref>Packard MG, Knowlton BJ (2002) Learning and memory functions of the Basal Ganglia. Annu Rev Neurosci 25:563-593.</ref>. In general, it has been demonstrated that neural activity will be present within the caudate while an individual is receiving feedback.
[edit] Language Comprehension
The left caudate in particular has been suggested to have a relationship with the thalamus that governs the comprehension and articulation of words as they are switched between languages. <ref> "How bilingual brains switch between tongues" at newscientist.com</ref> <ref> "Language Control in the Bilingual Brain " at sciencemag.org</ref>
[edit] Additional images
Velum interpositum. |
[edit] References
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[edit] External links
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