Basal Ganglia

The caudate nucleus and putamen is part of a subcortical region called striatum. Striatum together with globus pallidus are collectively called the basal ganglia. It serves as a central relay between the brainstem and cerebral cortex which plays an important role in motor functions and spatial information and therefore being important in Parkinson's disease. The caudate also contributes to body posture and fine tuning of movements, such as speed and direction. The input that comes to the caudate is then processed and sent to the thalmus.

Caudate and putamen are are separated by the internal capsule and histologically distinguishable structures of the striatum. The external capsule separate putamen from cortical regions. The internal and external capsules are white matter bundles, densly packed neuronal projections and glial cells, which is seen as darker regions without neuronal cell bodies.

The caudate is located next to the lateral ventricle, lined with ependymal cells, a specialized type of glial cells with shared functions with ciliated cells in other tissues.