Globus pallidus at a glance
- What it is
- The globus pallidus is a basal ganglia nucleus that provides major inhibitory output to the thalamus.
- Location
- It lies medial to the putamen, together forming the lentiform nucleus, and lateral to the internal capsule.
- Function
- Its internal segment (GPi) is a main output of the basal ganglia, and its external segment (GPe) acts within indirect-pathway circuits to regulate movement.
- Body system
- Nervous · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA72831 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Neurons use GABA as their transmitter.
- Target of deep brain stimulation in Parkinson disease and dystonia.
Clinical relevance
Pallidal damage, for example from carbon monoxide poisoning, can cause movement disorders.
Structures next to the globus pallidus
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Anterolateral central branch of middle cerebral artery · cardiovascular
- Caudate nucleus · nervous
- Putamen · nervous
- Internal capsule · nervous
- Stria terminalis · nervous
- Cingulate gyrus · nervous
- Fornix of forebrain · nervous
- Insula · nervous
- Thalamus · nervous
- Amygdala · nervous
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Globus pallidus (FMA72831). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §12.1 Basic Structure and Function of the Nervous System. Rice University, 2022.
- Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
Related anatomy
Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.