Basal ganglia and

Diencephalon
Assoc Prof Dr Farida Hussan
Human Biology Division
School of Medicine
faridahussan@imu.edu.my
Ext: 2829
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Learning outcomes

• Describe the parts of diencephalon.

• Enumerate the gross anatomy and subdivisions of thalamus.
• Describe the connections and functions of thalamus.
• Describe the gross anatomy of hypothalamus and its subdivisions.
• Describe the connections and functions of hypothalamus.
• Describe the components of basal ganglia.
• Describe its afferent and efferent connections.
• Outline the features of disorders of basal ganglia.
 Primary and secondary brain vesicles

Telencephalon
Prosencephalon

Diencephalon

Mesencephalon

Metencephalon

Rhombencephalon

Myelencephalon

By the 5th week, Prosencephalon & Rhombencephalon divide into 2 secondary

vesicles
Secondary brain vesicles and its derivatives

alon
Telenceph

Diencephalon

alon
Mesenceph

n ce phalon
Mete

ce ph a lon
Myelen

Diencephalon Thalamus, epithalamus, hypothalamus, subthalamus,

neurohypophysis, pineal gland, optic nerve, mammillary bodies
 Thalamus

Gross Anatomy
Midline paired structure
between cerebral cortex and
brainstem
- Shape: Ovoid mass of grey
matter in the lateral wall of
the third ventricle.
Anterior
- Measures: 4cm antero-
posteriorly, 1.5cm in vertical
and transverse dimensions .
Anterior
- Ends : anterior and posterior
ends.
- Surfaces: upper, lower,
medial and lateral
Relations of thalamus

Interventricular foramen

Caudate

Lentiform Thalamus

Internal capsule

Third ventricle
 Subdivision of thalamus
(anatomical)
Internal medullary lamina

• Anterior nuclear group

• Medial nuclear group
• Lateral nuclear group

– Intralaminar nucleus
– Reticular nucleus
The reticular nucleus forms a thin shell
between the external medullary lamina and
the posterior limb of internal capsule.

External medullary lamina INTERTHALAMIC ADHESION

 Anatomical and functional division
of thalamic nuclei
Thalamic
nuclei

Anterior Medial Lateral Intralaminar Reticular

• Non specific Dorsal Ventral • Specific

• Lateral dorsal nucleus • Ventral anterior nucleus (VA)

(LD) • Ventral lateral nucleus (VL)
• Lateral posterior nucleus • Ventral posterior nucleus
(LP) • Ventral posteromedial (VPM)
• Pulvinar • Ventral posterolateral (VPL)

• Medial geniculate body

• Lateral geniculate body
Specific nuclei
-ventral tier of lateral nuclear group
-Lateral Geniculate Body
-Medial Geniculate Body

LATERAL-
Dorsal tier

VP

LATERAL-
ventral tier
Specific nuclei and their connections

Premotor cortex P˚ somesthetic

P˚ motor
P˚ visual

P˚ auditory

P˚ somesthetic
Basal ganglia

VA
Cerebellum VL
P˚ auditory cortex
VI VPL
Red nucleus VPM
MG
Medial and spinal lemnisci Inferior colliculus
LG
Trigeminal lemniscus P˚ visual cortex
Superior colliculus
 SPECIFIC NUCLEI
THALAMIC AFFERENT EFFERENT FUNCTION
NUCLEUS
Ventral anterior Basal ganglia, Premotor cortex Activity of
substantia nigra motor cortex
Ventral lateral Cerebellum, 1OMotor cortex Motor activity of
BG, red nuc motor cortex
Ventral Somatic from 1OSomestheticc Relays common
posteromedial head region ortex sensation to
consiousness
Ventral Somatic from 1 Somestheticc
O

posterolateral trunk & limbs ortex

Lateral Sup colliculus, 1O Visual cortex Vision
geniculate body Optic tract
Medial Inferior 1O Auditory Hearing
geniculate body colliculus cortex
 NON-SPECIFIC NUCLEI
THALAMIC AFFERENT EFFERENT FUNCTION
NUCLEUS
Lateral dorsal Hippocampus Cingulate gyrus Analysis &
integration of
sensory input
Lateral posterior Sensory association of parietal lobe

Pulvinar Association cortices of parietal,

temporal and occipital lobes

Anterior Mammillary body- Cingulate gyrus Emotion, recent

hypothalamus memory

Medial dorsal Hypothalamus, Prefrontal cortex Control of mood &

amygdala, emotion
thalamic

Intralaminar Reticular formation, Cerebral cortex Level of

spinothalamic, consciousness &
trigeminothalamic
everywhere
alertness

Reticular Cerebral cortex, Other thalamic nuclei

reticular formation
 Hypothalamus
Hypothalamic
sulcus

Anterior
commissure

Lamina terminalis

Optic chiasma

Infundibulum
Mammillary
body
 Principal nuclei of hypothalamus

Paraventricular nucleus

Dorsomedial nucleus
Ventromedial
nucleus
Preoptic nucleus

Supraoptic nucleus

Posterior nucleus
Suprachiasmatic nucleus

Mammillary nucleus

Arcuate nucleus lateral nucleus

Hypothalamic connection
Afferent Efferent
Sympathetic and
Visual Afferent parasympathetic nuclei in
brainstem and spinal cord
Olfactory Afferent

Auditory Afferent Anterior nucleus of thalamus

via mammillary body
Visceral and Reticular formation in the
somatic Afferent midbrain via mammillary body

Frontal lobe
Limbic systems
Thalamus
Limbic system Pituitary gland
Midbrain
 Hypothalamic connection to pituitary gland

Vasopressin
(antidiuretic) Oxytocin

Damage of supraoptic N Releasing

hormones and
release-
inhibiting
hormones

Diabetes Insipidus

Control the endocrine gland secretion and neurosecretion

Functions of hypothalamus
• Temperature regulation
• Anterior region-lower the body temperature by sweating and dilatation
of skin blood vessels
• Food and water intake regulation
• Lateral region – hunger centre; thirst centre
• Medial region – satiety centre
• Emotional and behavior control
• Lateral region- symptoms and sign of rage
• Ventromedial nucleus- passivity
• Circadian rhythm
• Sleep-wake rhythm -- in anterior region
• Sexual behaviour
Epithalamus and Subthalamus

• Habenular nucleus • Situated between

• A small group of neurons thalamus and tegmentum
• Situated medial to the of midbrain
posterior surface of
thalamus
• Control muscle activity
• Pineal glands/ epiphysis Thalamus
cerebri
- Neuroendocrine organ
- Rich in melatonin

Sagittal section Tegmentum

Quizzes: Thalamus and Hypothalamus
 Basal ganglia

• masses of gray matter inside the cerebral hemisphere

Corpus striatum Amygdaloid Claustrum

Caudate Lentiform
nucleus

Putamen Globus pallidus

Neostriatum (striatum)
Output

Amygdaloid nucleus
Input
 Basal ganglia
Caudate
nucleus Internal capsule

Lateral medullary lamina

Claustrum
Medial medullary lamina

External capsule
Putamen

Globus
pallidus

Thalamus
Horizontal section
Caudate nucleus

Body

Head

Thalamus

Lentiform

Amygdaloid body
-connection with the limbic system Tail

Left lateral view

Lentiform nucleus
A
• biconvex mass of grey matter
B
Anterior limb of
Internal capsule

Lentiform

Posterior limb of
Internal capsule C
 Claustrum - a thin sheet of grey matter between putamen and
insula cortex

Caudate
nucleus Internal capsule

Extreme capsule
Claustrum
insula cortex

External capsule
Putamen

Globus
pallidus

Thalamus
Horizontal section
Subthalamic nucleus
- It is a biconvex mass of grey matter which lies lateral to hypothalamus and
intervenes between the internal capsule and ventral nuclei of thalamus.
Substantia nigra
- It is thin sheet of pigmented nerve cells which extends along the entire
length of mid brain.
- it intervenes between the basis pedunculi and tegmentum of mid brain
- It is divisible into a dorsal part – the pars compacta, and a ventral part –
the pars reticularis.
- Pars reticularis is rich in iron and deficient in melanin pigment.
- Pars compacta contains mostly dopaminergic neurons and is rich in
neuromelanin.
 MOTOR CORTEX
GLUTAMATE
STRIATUM
CAUDATE /PUTAMEN
GLUTAMATE

GABA
Globus pallidus
Internal / external
GABA
Thalamus
Substantia nigra

To produce a
desired movement
 GLUTAMATE
MOTOR CORTEX
Excitatory
STRIATUM
CAUDATE /PUTAMEN Less movement
InhibitoryGABA No stimulation
Globus pallidus
external
Inhibitory
GABA Thalamus
Inhibitory GABA
Sub thalamic Excitatory Globus pallidus
GLUTAMATE
nucleus internal

To prevent un necessary
movement
 Basal ganglia pathway
To take Direct pathway: to produce
coffee cup desired action
Tell GPin to
stop Premotor and Motor
inhibiting cortex Coffee
Direct pathway invitation
Striatum Thalamus Cortico-
spinal tract
GP internal
Dopamine

GP external
Nigrostriate
Indirect pathway
Subthalamus
Substantia nigra
Lower motor neuron
Dopa+D1= stimulatory which is (direct pathway)
Dopa+D2= inhibition which is (blocking the indirect
muscle
pathway)
*Net effect of Dopamine is to execute
continuous action. E.g walking Indirect pathway: to prevent
unwanted movement
Quizzes: Basal ganglia
 Abnormal manifestations due to lesions of basal
ganglia
• Parkinson's disease ( paralysis
agitans )
Leisons :
- neurodegenerative disorder
- leads to progressive deterioration of motor
function
- Degenerative changes are observed in globus
pallidus and substantia nigra.
- marked reduction of dopamine in the striatum
and substantia nigra.
Characteristic features :
-Rigidity ( cog wheel rigidity)
-Tremors ( pill rolling tremor)
- Mask like face
- Bradykinesia, or "slow movement", is the difficulty in
initiating voluntary movements
Athetosis
- Seen in damage to putamen (birth injury)
- Characterized by slow worm like writhing movements of the extremities
affecting mainly the fingers and wrists

Chorea
-brisk, jerky, purposeless and graceful movements of the
distal parts of the extremities.
-Associated with twitching's of the face
-cardinal signs of two diseases
1. Sydenham’s chorea (childhood disease)
2. Huntington’s chorea ( appears in middle life and worsen
as age advances)
Summary of basal ganglia action
• Direct pathway is to execute the desired movement
• Indirect pathway is to counteract the direct pathway
• Dopa+D1= stimulatory which is (direct pathway)
• Dopa+D2= inhibition which is (blocking the indirect
pathway)
• Net effect of Dopamine is to execute continuous action
• When dopamine is depleted, the direct pathway is
diminished and inhibition on the indirect pathway will be
removed, producing slow movement.
1. Snell R.S. Clinical Neuroanatomy, 7th Ed.
2. Diencephalon:
https://next.amboss.com/us/article/-60DnS#Zf43a0a
137c01130bac859a13f5802e69

2. Parkinson disease:
https://next.amboss.com/us/article/C30qkf#8naOEO
3. Huntington disease (Huntington's disease)
https://next.amboss.com/us/article/y30dOf#Zdb95d
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