The caudate nucleus, structure and function

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Philip Kelley
The caudate nucleus, structure and function

The caudate nucleus is a structure of the brain that makes up the striatum together with the putamen and the nucleus accumbens. The caudate nucleus, within the striatum, in turn forms part of the basal ganglia, a set of subcortical nuclei that are essential for the normal functioning of the nervous system and behavior..

Contents

  • Anatomy and structure of the caudate nucleus
  • Functions of the caudate nucleus
  • The caudate nucleus involved in decision making
  • The caudate nucleus, responsible for pessimism
  • Disorders associated with the caudate nucleus
    • References

Anatomy and structure of the caudate nucleus

The caudate nucleus is part of the dorsal striatum and is located in the center of the brain, near the thalamus. We have two caudate nuclei, one in each hemisphere and its shape is that of a "C" divided into the head, body and tail area..

The caudate nucleus connects with the substantia nigra through dopaminergic neurons that it sends out. In addition, it is connected to many other brain areas such as the thalamus, putamen, globe pallus or the cortex..

Functions of the caudate nucleus

The caudate nucleus is highly involved in many essential functions for our adaptation to the environment. One of these functions is that of movement since, through its connections with the cerebral cortex, as well as the thalamus, it performs an important function in directing movements and contributing to the postural control of the body..

However, despite what was thought in the past, the caudate nucleus participates in many other important functions, being involved in processes of working memory, learning by association, language and even in response to attractive visual stimuli, among many others. functions.

The caudate nucleus involved in decision making

One of the main functions, the discovery of which has led to many advances in the study of behavior, is the role it plays in decision-making. Some studies such as the one published in 2008 by Grahn, Parkinson and Owen indicate that the caudate nucleus, unlike the putamen, manages to activate correct action patterns through the selection of objectives based on the evaluation of action-outcome. Therefore, it contributes to our behavior achieving a better adaptation to the environment and better survival. The putamen, on the contrary, seems to contribute to establishing more basic cognitive functions based on learning through stimulus-response, without reaching, according to this study, the greater cognitive complexity that the caudate nucleus achieves.

According to this study, the striatum achieves that our behavior fulfills its adaptive functions through the connections of brain areas such as the prefrontal cortex and regions of the striatum such as the ventral striatum, focused on motivation, the caudate nucleus, which influences in the planning of objectives and the putamen that assumes a function of sensorimotor coordination for the implementation.

The caudate nucleus, responsible for pessimism

It seems that the caudate nucleus is a structure that is highly involved in pessimistic behaviors and emotions, as well as in depression. An important study by Graybiel and his team recently found the direct consequences that stimulation of the caudate nucleus had when making pessimistic decisions. The cost-benefit calculation when making any decision that could have previously been positive turned negative when this nucleus was stimulated and the behaviors of animals were based on a pessimistic perspective closely linked to depressive disorders.

Disorders associated with the caudate nucleus

Being a structure with so many implications, its damage or malfunction is associated with multiple disorders.

The most studied in reference to its connection with this structure is Parkinson's disease, a disorder in which there is a destruction of dopaminergic neurons from the substantia nigra that connect to the caudate nucleus. In this disease there are symptoms that affect movement, as well as cognitive problems and dementia. These motor problems, as well as dementia, have been commonly associated with the loss of dopaminergic neurons that reach the caudate.

Other disorders that have come to be associated with the caudate nucleus are Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, in which it appears that the caudate does not correctly control decision-making processing in its connections with the thalamus and the prefrontal cortex, leading to a lack of control of the worrying and impulsive thoughts.

In addition, connections have been found between problems in the caudate nucleus and disorders such as Alzheimer's, in which there is a significant reduction in the volume of this structure. Other disorders that are connected in some way to a malfunction of this region are Huntington's disease, schizophrenia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Through new research, neuroscience will find new implications and functions that this important structure may still reveal..

References

The cognitive Functions of the caudate nucleus https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301008208001019
https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/caudate-nucleus#1
https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30596-8#%20


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