caudate nucleus

Structure

• the head of the caudate is continuous with anterior putamen.
• it swings above the putamen & curls posterior over the putamen & thalamus, caudally posterior to the thalamus, then curls anteriorly below the thalamus & putamen to merge with the amygdala

Afferents

(see striatum)

Efferents

(see striatum)

Arterial supply

• small penetrating lenticulostriate arteries
• recurrent arteries of Huebner

Pathology

(see caudate infarction/lesion)

More general terms

• CNS nucleus

More specific terms

• head of caudate nucleus (anterior extremity)
• tail of caudate nucleus

Component of

• striatum
• corpus striatum (striate body)