Figure 3

Basal Ganglia and Pain Systems. Afferent inputs from spinal cord and brainstem have direct and indirect inputs into the BG, most are into the striatum but some input into the globus pallidus and substantia nigra. Thalamic inputs into various cortical regions are then processed and complete the cortico-BG-thalamic loop. Cortical inputs include those from a number of regions known to be involved in pain processing. Key: (1) Spino-accumbens pathway [57]; (2) Spino-parabrachial-amygdala pathways [176]; (3) Spino-thalamic pathway [177]; (4) Thalamo-Striatal pathway [38].