What do the basal ganglia do?

First off: As I’ve mentioned before, clusters of neural co-laborers in the brain are called nuclei. However, certain nuclei are referred to en masse as the basal ganglia. That’s just the way it is. We may as well learn to live with the situation.

Anyway. The basal ganglia are functionally related nuclei, comprising the putamen, globus pallidus, substantia nigra, nucleus accumbens, and the caudate and subthalamic nuclei. They’re involved in the inhibition of movement (so that we don’t flail around all the time), and consequently in motivation and appetitive behavior: when you’re hungry, you don’t want your movement inhibited — you need to get to that bag of pork rinds before your jobless brother-in-law notices them.

Irregularities in the basal ganglia most often manifest themselves as disorders in movement, notably:

• Parkinson’s Disease, characterized by tremors and trouble with initiating movement, and
• Huntington’s Disease, characterized by uncontrollable spastic movements called chorea.

Both of these sound roundly irritating, not to mention life-threatening. My heart goes out to the people who have to wake up to them every day.