Subcortical masses of gray matter in the forebrain and midbrain that are richly interconnected and so viewed as a functional system. The nuclei usually included are the caudate nucleus (caudoputamen in rodents), putamen, globus pallidus, substantia nigra (pars compacta and pars reticulata) and the subthalamic nucleus. Some also include the nucleus accumbens and ventral pallidum.
Comment:
[homology-note] "All nuclei of the mammalian basal ganglia are also present in the oldest vertebrates.[well established][VHOG]" xsd:string {date_retrieved="2012-09-17", external_class="VHOG:0001696", ontology="VHOG", source="DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2011.05.001 Stephenson-Jones M, Samuelsson E, Ericsson J, Robertson B, Grillner S, Evolutionary conservation of the basal ganglia as a common vertebrate mechanism for action selection. Current Biology (2011)", source="http://bgee.unil.ch/"}
Synonyms:
exact_synonym:
basal ganglia; basal ganglia set; basal nuclei (basal ganglia); set of basal ganglia
related_synonym:
basal nuclei; cerebral nuclei; set of basal nuclei; subcortical nuclei