Putamen

"Putamen" is also a botanical term for the stone in a fruit, such as a peach.

The putamen is a structure in the middle of the brain which, together with the caudate nucleus, forms the dorsal striatum.

The putamen is a portion of the basal ganglia that forms the outermost part of the lenticular nucleus.

Function

It appears to play a role in reinforcement learning.

Projections

The motor and somatosensory cortices, the intralaminar nuclei of the thalamus, and the substantia nigra project to the putamen.

The putamen projects to premotor and supplementary motor areas of cortex via the globus pallidus and thalamus.

Pathology

In lesions of the putamen, the patient's eyes will deviate away from the side of the hemiparesis.

Additional images

See also

• Lentiform nucleus

External links

• Diagram at uni-tuebingen.de
• - "The Visual Pathway from Below"