| Library / English Dictionary |
BASAL GANGLION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Any of several masses of subcortical grey matter at the base of each cerebral hemisphere that seem to be involved in the regulation of voluntary movement
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("basal ganglion" is a kind of...):
ganglion (an encapsulated neural structure consisting of a collection of cell bodies or neurons)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "basal ganglion"):
amygdala; amygdaloid nucleus; corpus amygdaloideum (an almond-shaped neural structure in the anterior part of the temporal lobe of the cerebrum; intimately connected with the hypothalamus and the hippocampus and the cingulate gyrus; as part of the limbic system it plays an important role in motivation and emotional behavior)
caudate; caudate nucleus (a tail-shaped basal ganglion located in a lateral ventricle of the brain)
claustrum (a layer of grey matter in the brain adjacent to the lenticular nucleus)
lenticular nucleus; lentiform nucleus (a basal ganglion shaped like a lens and including the outer reddish putamen and the inner pale yellow pallidum)
globus pallidus; paleostriatum; pallidum (the inner pale yellow part of the lenticular nucleus)
putamen (the outer reddish part of the lenticular nucleus)
corpus striatum; striate body; striatum (a striped mass of white and grey matter located in front of the thalamus in each cerebral hemisphere; consists of the caudate nucleus and the lenticular nucleus)
Holonyms ("basal ganglion" is a part of...):
corticospinal tract; pyramidal motor system; pyramidal tract (any of the important motor nerves on each side of the central nervous system that run from the sensorimotor areas of the cortex through the brainstem to motor neurons of the cranial nerve nuclei and the ventral root of the spinal cord)
betweenbrain; diencephalon; interbrain; thalmencephalon (the posterior division of the forebrain; connects the cerebral hemispheres with the mesencephalon)
Context examples:
When the researchers analyzed key parts of the patients’ brains, they found that patients who had four or more rimmed lesions had less white matter and smaller basal ganglia than those who had no rimmed lesions.
(Smoldering spots in the brain may signal severe multiple sclerosis, National Institutes of Health)
