Caudate Nucleus

Anatomy

• C-shaped; head (lateral wall of the frontal horn of the lateral ventricle), body and tail (roof of the temporal horn, reaching the amygdala).
• Together with the putamen it forms the dorsal striatum; separated by the internal capsule and joined by gray bridges (the striated appearance).
• Input: DLPFC, OFC, ACC; substantia nigra pars compacta (nigrostriatal dopamine).
• Blood supply: lenticulostriate arteries (MCA), recurrent artery of Heubner (ACA) — head.

Functions

• Goal-directed behavior and action–outcome learning.
• Cognitive loop (DLPFC–caudate–thalamus): support for working memory and planning.
• Feedback-based learning and reward expectation.
• Cognitive flexibility and inhibition; oculomotor loop (eye movements).

Connections and chemistry

• DLPFC and OFC (corticostriatal input)
• Globus pallidus / SNr (output)
• Thalamus VA and mediodorsal
• Substantia nigra (dopamine — D1/D2 receptors)
• GABA (medium spiny neurons), acetylcholine (interneurons)

Development

Developmental course through childhood and adolescence.

• Striatal volume increases until middle childhood–early adolescence and then declines (an inverted-U curve similar to the cortex).
• Corticostriatal connections mature throughout adolescence.

Clinical

• OCD: caudate hyperactivity in the CSTC circuit. The PANS/PANDAS hypothesis (controversial); caudate involvement in Sydenham chorea.
• Tourette syndrome: smaller caudate volume (Peterson et al., 2003); caudate volume in childhood predicts adult tic severity (Bloch et al., 2005).
• ADHD: smaller caudate volume (a difference that decreases with age).
• Juvenile Huntington disease (Westphal variant): caudate atrophy.

Treatment

This region from the perspective of medication, psychotherapy and neuromodulation. Letter badges are evidence levels.

• OCD: exposure and response prevention (ERP) and SSRIs; effective treatment reduces hyperactivity in the caudate and OFC. A
• Huntington chorea: VMAT2 inhibitors (tetrabenazine, deutetrabenazine) ease chorea by reducing dopamine storage; monitoring for depression and suicidal thoughts is needed. A
• Sydenham chorea: treatment of the streptococcal infection and long-term penicillin prophylaxis; symptomatic treatment for chorea and behavioral symptoms. B
• Behavioral and drug treatment for tics is on the putamen card.

Assessment

Neuropsychological tasks and measures that probe this region's function.

• Probabilistic category learning
• Set-shifting tasks, TMT-B
• Feedback learning tasks

Lesions and damage

Clinical findings expected with damage or dysfunction.

• Abulia/apathy, frontal-like executive dysfunction, disinhibition.
• Chorea (Huntington), OCD-like symptoms.

In the model

How this structure is defined in the 3D model, and the data source.

CerebrA caudate label.

References

Full citations for the card; links go to the paper (DOI) or a PubMed search.

1. Bloch MH et al. (2005). Caudate volumes in childhood predict symptom severity in adults with Tourette syndrome. Neurology, 65(8), 1253–1258. Search PubMed
2. Peterson BS et al. Basal ganglia volumes in patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2003;60(4):415–424. DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.60.4.415