{"id":121821,"date":"2024-01-24T12:36:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T16:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=121821"},"modified":"2024-01-29T13:35:06","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T17:35:06","slug":"what-do-the-basal-ganglia-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-do-the-basal-ganglia-do\/","title":{"rendered":"What Do the Basal Ganglia Do? Dr. Amen Explains Their Roles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What do the basal ganglia do? What roles do they play when it comes to your emotions, decisions, and learning?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether you&#8217;ve ever heard of them or not, your basal ganglia make a big difference in your life. In his book <em>Change Your Brain, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-life-in-5-simple-steps\/\">Change Your Life<\/a><\/em>, psychiatrist and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/dr-amen-brain-health\/\">brain health<\/a> expert Daniel G. Amen explains how important this system in your brain is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more to learn what the basal ganglia do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-the-basal-ganglia-do\">What the Basal Ganglia Do<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>What do the basal ganglia do? According to Dr. Amen, your basal ganglia modulate your reactions and behaviors. For example, when you jump with excitement at good news, or your hands tremble in nervous anticipation, it\u2019s your basal ganglia integrating your feelings and movements. Your basal ganglia achieve this by doing the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Coordinating motor control and inhibiting unwanted behaviors:<\/strong> They oversee voluntary movements, integrate feelings, and suppress undesired actions.<\/li><li><strong>Enhancing cognition:<\/strong> They contribute to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/methods-of-decision-making-crucial-conversations\/\">decision-making<\/a>, planning, and problem-solving.<\/li><li><strong>Regulating emotions and anxiety levels:<\/strong> They aid in emotional processing and mood regulation while helping set appropriate anxiety levels.<\/li><li><strong>Influencing motivation and reward responses: <\/strong>They direct the brain&#8217;s reward system\u2014amplifying motivation, pleasure, and the anticipation of rewards.<\/li><li><strong>Supporting habit development:<\/strong> They enable the efficient learning and repetition of specific behaviors.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>The Basal Ganglia in Detail<\/strong><br><br>Within the basal ganglia, numerous smaller components work in tandem to enable the functions that Dr. Amen describes. Breaking down some of these components will help you better understand the complex processes underlying your reactions and behaviors.<br><br><strong>Coordinating motor control and inhibiting unwanted behaviors:<\/strong> The <a href=\"https:\/\/neuroscientificallychallenged.com\/posts\/know-your-brain-striatum\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">striatum<\/a> processes signals from various <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-are-the-regions-of-the-brain\/\">brain regions<\/a>, suppressing conflicting or extraneous motor signals to coordinate movements. This is crucial for precise motor tasks like handwriting.<br><br><strong>Enhancing cognition:<\/strong> The <a href=\"https:\/\/neuroscientificallychallenged.com\/posts\/know-your-brain-globus-pallidus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">globus pallidus<\/a> regulates the striatum, modulating which movements get executed or inhibited. This impacts your coordination between thought and action, such as planning a sequence of movements in sports.<br><br><strong>Regulating emotions and anxiety levels:<\/strong> The <a href=\"https:\/\/neuroscientificallychallenged.com\/posts\/know-your-brain-substantia-nigra\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">substantia nigra<\/a> adjusts dopamine levels, influencing how your brain perceives and responds to emotional stimuli\u2014for example, how you react to a suspenseful movie or your resilience in challenging situations.<br><br><strong>Influencing motivation and reward responses:<\/strong> The <a href=\"https:\/\/neuroscientificallychallenged.com\/posts\/know-your-brain-nucleus-accumbens\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nucleus accumbens<\/a> responds to dopamine released by the substantia nigra, processing information about potential rewards to create behavior-motivating feelings of anticipation and pleasure.<br><br><strong>Supporting habit development:<\/strong> The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC4526748\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">striatum<\/a> reinforces the neural pathways associated with frequently repeated behaviors, making them more automatic. This is why, after extensive practice, complex tasks like driving become almost second nature.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What do the basal ganglia do? What roles do they play when it comes to your emotions, decisions, and learning? Whether you&#8217;ve ever heard of them or not, your basal ganglia make a big difference in your life. In his book Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, psychiatrist and brain health expert Daniel G. Amen explains how important this system in your brain is. Read more to learn what the basal ganglia do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":121854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,9,160],"tags":[1381],"class_list":["post-121821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-psychology","category-science","tag-change-your-brain-change-your-life","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Do the Basal Ganglia Do? Dr. Amen Explains Their Roles - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What do the basal ganglia do? 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Learn how they impact your movements, feelings, decisions, planning, problem-solving, learning, and more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-do-the-basal-ganglia-do\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-24T16:36:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-29T17:35:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/basal-ganglia-in-the-middle-of-the-brain.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-do-the-basal-ganglia-do\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-do-the-basal-ganglia-do\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\"},\"headline\":\"What Do the Basal Ganglia Do? 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