Basal Ganglia Damage in Children

We often encounter tasks that generally require no thought. The brain, however, is constantly working hard on every action we take. Even something seemingly simple, such picking up a glass of water and drinking from it, is stimulating the brain. The basal ganglia, which is a vital part of the brain, plays a role in maintaining the simplicity in simple tasks. Damage to the basal ganglia can cause problems in completing simple tasks. Basal ganglia damage in children can occur in a few different ways. This damage can impair and inhibit movement as well as cause athereoid cerebral palsy in the child.

Basal Ganglia

• To best explain the effects of damage to the basal ganglia, you must understand the parts and purpose of the basal ganglia. The basal ganglia are a group of subcortical (the part of the brain directly beneath the cerebral cortex) structures lateral to the thalamus. It consists of three major structures: the caudate nucleus, the putamen and the globus pallidus. All three of these areas exchange information with each other, as well as the thalamus and the cerebral cortex. Sensory information enters from the thalamus and cerebral cortex to the basal ganglia through the caudate nucleus and the putamen. It leaves the basal ganglia through the globus pallidus, which relays to the thalamus. From the thalamus, the information travels to the motor cortex and the prefrontal cortex.

How Basal Ganglia Work

• Since the basal ganglia is involved with sending information to the motor areas of the cortex, the structures of the basal ganglia act like the motor areas. They store sensory information, use this information to guide movement, learn rules and arrange sequential movements into an automatic whole movement. The basal ganglia are quite significant in the formation of habit learning. For example, when you first learn to type, you have to think about all of your finger movements and where every letter is. But after a while, you don't have to think about it anymore. Typing becomes an automatic activity. The basal ganglia are at work in stabilizing the movements necessary to type.

Movement Impairment

• Because the basal ganglia are active in sequential movement, damage to this area greatly impairs a person of any age's ability to perform sequential tasks. One problem with movement is referred to as movement impairment, also called akinesia. Akinesia refers to an inability to move a particular area of the body. This can be frustrating because the person cannot perform the task he desires to.

Involuntary Movements

• The other problem caused by basal ganglia damage is bradykinesia. Bradykinesia is slow movement. There are five categories of involuntary motions: tremors, athetosis, chorea, ballism and dystonia. Tremors are rhythmic involuntary movements. Athetosis is the slowing of finger, hand and sometimes toe movements. Chorea is quick movements of the limbs and facial muscles. Ballism is violent flailing motions. Dystonia is grotesque movements and twisted body positions due to a constant body posture. Children who suffer from any of these movement impairments or involuntary movements face challenges in learning and completing tasks.

Atheroid Cerebral Palsy

• The most common problem for children with damage to the basal ganglia is athetoid cerebral palsy. Children with athetoid cerebral palsy generally have tremors and dystonia. They are constantly moving most likely with squirming type movements. They struggle to control and coordinate movements (Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy). Children with atheroid cerebral palsy are generally of average or above average intelligence because their brain is only damaged in the basal ganglia, rendering the rest of the brain to function as it normally would. So the child whose brain is functioning normally may desire to do something requiring a flowing, sequential movement. The child cannot perform the desired task because he cannot coordinate his movements. This causes frustration for the child because his body cannot physically do what he wants it to do. Ironically, the conditions of athetoid cerebral palsy are intensified when stress levels are high. Relaxation techniques, such as yoga, are being used to help control some of the movements these children.