Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 3 complete abstracts (552 words), 9 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
Large subcortical nuclear masses derived from the telencephalon and located in the basal regions of the cerebral hemispheres.
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Also known as: Ganglion, Basal; Ganglia, Basal; Basal Nuclei; Nuclei, Basal; Basal Nuclear Complex; Basal Nuclear Complices; Nuclear Complex, Basal.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- Cerebrum
- Narrower topics
- Amygdala; Claustrum; Corpus Striatum; Substantia Innominata
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 108,910 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Basal Ganglia” (counts retrieved 2026-10-29). 13,757 of them (12.6%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is through 1999 with 42,470 records.
Reviews account for 7,312 records (6.7%) and meta-analyses for 357. Randomized controlled trials number 899 (0.8%) as a share of all records on the topic. Randomized trials make up only a small share of this literature, so much of what is known comes from laboratory, observational or descriptive work.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 42,470 |
| 2000-2009 | 24,691 |
| 2010-2019 | 27,992 |
| 2020 onward | 13,757 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 7,312 | 6.7% |
| Meta-analyses | 357 | 0.3% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 899 | 0.8% |
Method: PubMed query "Basal Ganglia"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-10-29.
Reading the evidence in neuroscience
Neuroscience draws on tools with different strengths: cellular and animal work can manipulate circuits directly, while human imaging and electrophysiology observe the living brain at lower resolution. Small imaging studies are prone to false positives, and findings in animals do not always carry over to people. Clinical neurology and psychiatry rely on trials and cohort studies whose outcomes are often symptom scales. Check the species, the sample size, how the outcome was measured and whether results were replicated.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
| Study / authors | Year | Source label / design | Europe PMC citations | Licence / source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A synaptic mechanism for encoding the learned value of action-derived safety | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 6 | cc by PMID 42243099 · DOI · PMC13237380 |
| Comparative analysis of the cellular landscape in mammalian striatum | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 6 | cc by PMID 42185272 · DOI · PMC13385833 |
| Thalamo-accumbal circuit adaptations following extended oxycodone abstinence | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 5 | cc by PMID 42550587 · DOI · PMC13436959 |
A synaptic mechanism for encoding the learned value of action-derived safety [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Adaptive behavior requires that behaviorally relevant signals gain access to neural circuits guiding action.
- Closing excerpt
- These findings identify a thalamostriatal mechanism through which learned goals gain stable access to motivational circuitry.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (159 words)
Adaptive behavior requires that behaviorally relevant signals gain access to neural circuits guiding action. The thalamus has long been proposed to regulate information flow to cortical and subcortical systems, yet whether it also tracks internally generated goal signals remains unclear. Here, we show that neurons in the paraventricular thalamus (PVT) projecting to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) encode the motivational value of safety during active avoidance. As mice learn to avoid threat, PVT→NAc neurons develop a signal that emerges selectively at successful avoidance, is experience-dependent, and diminishes following outcome devaluation. Selective silencing of the PVT→NAc pathway at safety onset reduces the motivational value assigned to safety without impairing action-outcome learning. Mechanistically, PVT input engages cholinergic interneurons (CIN) in the NAc to regulate dopamine release via synaptic potentiation mediated by GluA2-lacking AMPA receptors at PVT-CIN synapses. Disrupting this plasticity reduces the motivational impact of safety. These findings identify a thalamostriatal mechanism through which learned goals gain stable access to motivational circuitry.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42243099 · DOI · PMC13237380
Comparative analysis of the cellular landscape in mammalian striatum [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- The dorsal striatum is important for highly specialized functions including movement, learning, and habit formation.
- Closing excerpt
- In summary, we provide a comprehensive snRNA-seq dataset of dorsal striatum, identify two distinct, previously uncharacterized populations of bat interneurons, and uncover fundamental cellular composition differences between primate and non-primate striata.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (198 words)
The dorsal striatum is important for highly specialized functions including movement, learning, and habit formation. However, it is not known if species-specialized behaviors are associated with cellular specializations in the striatum. Here, we compared single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) data from human, chimpanzee, rhesus macaque, common marmoset, and pale spear-nosed bat caudate (CN) and putamen (Pu) separately as well as mouse caudoputamen (C-Pu), which represents divergence among species spanning approximately 94 million years of evolution. We observed a lower neuron-to-glia ratio in primate striata compared to non-primates, reflecting the allometric scaling of neuron density and relative glia density invariance in larger brains. Among neurons, eccentric spiny projection neurons (eSPNs) - an SPN of unknown function - showed significantly lower proportions in non-primate striata for both CN and Pu. Focusing on the heterogeneity within interneurons, we identified two bat striatal interneuron cell types that are nearly absent in other species: which express LMO3, and co-express FOXP2 and TSHZ2. Other striatal interneurons also exhibited differential abundance between primates and non-primates. In summary, we provide a comprehensive snRNA-seq dataset of dorsal striatum, identify two distinct, previously uncharacterized populations of bat interneurons, and uncover fundamental cellular composition differences between primate and non-primate striata.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42185272 · DOI · PMC13385833
Thalamo-accumbal circuit adaptations following extended oxycodone abstinence [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Opioid use disorder is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and heightened relapse vulnerability following abstinence, a phenomenon known as incubation of craving.
- Closing excerpt
- The dissociation between comparable circuit-level plasticity and sex-specific relapse vulnerability suggests that PVT-NAcSh strengthening represents a shared neuroadaptation to oxycodone abstinence, while mechanisms driving heightened relapse in females likely involve additional circuit elements that remain to be identified.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (195 words)
Opioid use disorder is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and heightened relapse vulnerability following abstinence, a phenomenon known as incubation of craving. Although preclinical data suggest similar behavioral expression of opioid use between sexes, conclusive evidence on sex differences in craving and relapse across abstinence periods remains lacking. Here, we investigated the effects of abstinence from oxycodone self-administration on neurotransmission in the paraventricular thalamus (PVT) to nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh) pathway in male and female rats. Using optogenetics and ex vivo electrophysiology, we assessed synaptic strength, glutamate release probability, and intrinsic excitability of NAcSh medium spiny neurons (MSNs) following 1 (acute) or 14 (prolonged) days of forced abstinence. No sex differences were observed in oxycodone self-administration or somatic withdrawal. However, females exhibited greater cue-induced relapse after prolonged but not acute abstinence. Prolonged abstinence produced comparable increases in PVT-NAcSh synaptic strength and presynaptic glutamate release probability in both sexes, while inhibitory transmission and MSN excitability were largely unaltered. The dissociation between comparable circuit-level plasticity and sex-specific relapse vulnerability suggests that PVT-NAcSh strengthening represents a shared neuroadaptation to oxycodone abstinence, while mechanisms driving heightened relapse in females likely involve additional circuit elements that remain to be identified.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42550587 · DOI · PMC13436959
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article Basal ganglia functional connectivity based on a meta-analysis of 126 positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging publications [4]
- Research article Circuits and functions of the lateral habenula in health and in disease [5]
- Research article Understanding Emotions: Origins and Roles of the Amygdala [6]
- Research article A systematic review and meta-analysis of magnetic resonance imaging measurement of structural volumes in posttraumatic stress disorder [7]
- Research article The prefrontal cortex, pathological anxiety, and anxiety disorders [8]
- Research article Systematic review and meta-analysis of standard vs selective temporal lobe epilepsy surgery [9]
References
- Macdonald EE, Ma J, Liu D, Yu K, Walker RA, Authement ME, et al.. A synaptic mechanism for encoding the learned value of action-derived safety. . 2026. PMID 42243099 · DOI · PMC13237380
- Buyukkahraman G, Caglayan E, Hörpel SG, Zhang Y, van Tussenbroek IA, Orozco CG, et al.. Comparative analysis of the cellular landscape in mammalian striatum. . 2026. PMID 42185272 · DOI · PMC13385833
- Alonso Caraballo Y, Li Y, Constantino NJ, Neal MA, Driscoll GS, Manasian Y, et al.. Thalamo-accumbal circuit adaptations following extended oxycodone abstinence. . 2026. PMID 42550587 · DOI · PMC13436959
- Postuma RB, Dagher A. Basal ganglia functional connectivity based on a meta-analysis of 126 positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging publications. Cereb Cortex. 2006. PMID 16373457 · DOI
- Hu H, Cui Y, Yang Y. Circuits and functions of the lateral habenula in health and in disease. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2020. PMID 32269316 · DOI
- Šimić G, Tkalčić M, Vukić V, Mulc D, Španić E, Šagud M, et al.. Understanding Emotions: Origins and Roles of the Amygdala. Biomolecules. 2021. PMID 34072960 · DOI · PMC8228195
- O'Doherty DC, Chitty KM, Saddiqui S, Bennett MR, Lagopoulos J. A systematic review and meta-analysis of magnetic resonance imaging measurement of structural volumes in posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychiatry Res. 2015. PMID 25735885 · DOI
- Kenwood MM, Kalin NH, Barbas H. The prefrontal cortex, pathological anxiety, and anxiety disorders. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2022. PMID 34400783 · DOI · PMC8617307
- Josephson CB, Dykeman J, Fiest KM, Liu X, Sadler RM, Jette N, et al.. Systematic review and meta-analysis of standard vs selective temporal lobe epilepsy surgery. Neurology. 2013. PMID 23553475 · DOI
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-10-31; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-10-29.
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Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.