The idea that the basal ganglia have a role in motor control is well accepted. Yet the fundamental question remains, what exactly do the basal ganglia do for movement? One clue can be obtained from studies of Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The devastating impact on movement caused by these degenerative disorders of the basal ganglia strongly supports a motor function. However, close scr...

Introduction: Addiction imposes a large medical, social and economic burden on societies. Currently, there is no effective treatment for addiction. Our struggle to decipher the different mechanisms involved in addiction requires a proper understanding of the brain regions which promote this devastating behavior. Previous studies have shown a pivotal role for insula in cigarette smoking. In this...

Sydenham's chorea (SC) occurs weeks or months after Group A streptococcal infection, and is characterized by involuntary, purposeless movements of the limbs, in addition to behavioural alteration. There is a body of evidence which suggests that SC is an immune-mediated brain disorder with regional localization to the basal ganglia. Recent reports have suggested that the spectrum of post-strepto...

INTRODUCTION Radiologists may encounter bilaterally symmetrical abnormalities of the basal ganglia on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), typically in the context of diffuse systemic, toxic or metabolic diseases. A systematic approach and broad knowledge of pathology causing this uncommon group of conditions would be useful. MATERIALS AND METHODS This review uses illustrative images to highligh...

The current model of basal ganglia (BG) was introduced two decades ago and has settled most of our current understanding of BG function and dysfunction. Extensive research efforts have been carried out in recent years leading to further refinement and understanding of the normal and diseased BG. Several questions, however, are yet to be resolved. This short review provides a synopsis of the evo...

Two of the most common diseases of the basal ganglia are Huntington’s disease (HD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). In this article we compare and contrast the aetiology, pathogenesis and movement disorders associated with HD and PD, as a basis for deriving a framework for physiotherapy practice for people with basal ganglia dysfunction. Although much has been written about therapy for PD, little ...

The basal ganglia are comprised of the striatum, the external and internal segment of the globus pallidus (GPe and GPi, respectively), the subthalamic nucleus (STN), and the substantia nigra pars compacta and reticulata (SNc and SNr, respectively). Dopamine has long been identified as an important modulator of basal ganglia function in the striatum, and disturbances of striatal dopaminergic tra...