OBJECTIVE Radiotracers targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) have increasingly been recognized as showing uptake in a number of normal structures, anatomic variants, and non-prostate-cancer pathologies. We aimed to explore the frequency and degree of uptake in peripheral ganglia in patients undergoing PET with the PSMA-targeted agent 18F-DCFPyL. METHODS A total of 98 patients wh...

The basal ganglia are more highly interconnected with the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPN) than with any other brain region. Regulation and relay of basal ganglia activity are two key functions of the PPN. The PPN provides an interface for the basal ganglia to influence sleep and waking, and the two structures are similarly implicated in learning, reward and other cognitive functions. P...

Bilateral traumatic hemorrhage of the basal ganglia is an extremely rare neuropathologic entity. Bilateral basal ganglia hemorrhage secondary to blast injury has not described before. We report a case with bilateral basal ganglia hemorrhage secondary to explosion.

Objectives: The basal ganglia (BG) controls different patterns of behavior by receiving inputs from sensory-motor and pre-motor cortex and projecting it to pre-frontal, pre-motor and supplementary motor areas. As the exact role of BG in swallowing process has not been fully determined, we aimed at reviewing the published data on neurological control in the swallowing technique to have a better ...

The traditional view that the basal ganglia are simply involved in the control of movement has been challenged in recent years. Three lines of evidence indicate that the basal ganglia also are involved in nonmotor operations. First, the results of anatomical studies clearly indicate that the basal ganglia participate in multiple circuits or 'loops' with cognitive areas of the cerebral cortex. S...

The striatal return through the thalamus is largely neglected in current studies dealing with basal ganglia function, and its role within this circuitry remains obscure. In this contribution the thalamus is regarded as an important place of interaction between the input and the output organization of the basal ganglia. In support of this idea, a brief overview is provided of some of the most re...

Previous studies have suggested that the segmental pattern of neural-crest-derived sympathetic ganglia arises as a direct result of signals that restrict neural crest cell migratory streams through rostral somite halves. We recently showed that the spatiotemporal pattern of chick sympathetic ganglia formation is a two-phase process. Neural crest cells migrate laterally to the dorsal aorta, then...

In this review paper, we summarize the important contributions of the basal ganglia to the regulation of postural control. After a brief overview of basal ganglia circuitries, the emphasis is on clinical observations in patients with focal lesions in parts of the basal ganglia, as the impairments seen here can serve to highlight the normal functions of the basal ganglia nuclei in postural contr...

A study of movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease can provide an indication of the motor functions of the basal ganglia. Basal-ganglia diseases affect voluntary movement and can cause involuntary movement. Deficits are often manifested during the coordination of fine multi-joint movements (e.g., handwriting). The disturbances of motor control (e.g. akinesia, bra...

UNLABELLED The possible relation between stuttering and the basal ganglia is discussed. Important clues to the pathophysiology of stuttering are given by conditions known to alleviate dysfluency, like the rhythm effect, chorus speech, and singing. Information regarding pharmacologic trials, lesion studies, brain imaging, genetics, and developmental changes of the nervous system is reviewed. The...