Putaminal

Putaminal is an anatomical term referring to the putamen, a large, rounded structure that forms part of the basal ganglia in the brain. Along with the caudate nucleus, the putamen makes up the corpus striatum. It is located laterally to the internal capsule within the telencephalon and lies adjacent to other components of the basal ganglia, including the globus pallidus. The putamen receives widespread input from the cerebral cortex, particularly motor and somatosensory areas, as well as from thalamic nuclei. Its primary outputs project to the internal segment of the globus pallidus and to the substantia nigra pars reticulata, forming part of the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical loops involved in movement control. Through these connections, the putamen contributes to the regulation of voluntary movement, muscle tone, and the sequencing of motor actions, as well as to certain aspects of learning and habit formation.

Clinically, the term putaminal is common in descriptions of lesions or diseases affecting the putamen. A classic example is putaminal hemorrhage, a frequent site of hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage, typically presenting with contralateral weakness and sensory loss, sometimes with gaze abnormalities. Imaging usually shows a focal hematoma in the putamen on CT or MRI. Putaminal damage or degeneration can also occur in neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington’s disease, where atrophy of the caudate and putamen is characteristic. The term is widely used in radiology, neurology, and neuropathology to denote findings associated with the putamen.