The caudate nucleus is deep inside each cerebral hemisphere, one on each side: a C-shaped mass of grey matter that hugs the wall of the lateral ventricle, with a large head at the front and a thin tail curving back and down into the temporal lobe. [1]
The 3D brain needs JavaScript. The text below still says where the caudate nucleus is and what it does.
Slice
Opens cut by a front (coronal) slice through the caudate nucleus. Drag to turn, pinch or scroll to zoom, tap any part to name it; .
One of the structures that make up the striatum, which is part of the basal ganglia. [1][2]
Near the centre of the brain, sitting astride the thalamus; there is one in each hemisphere. [1]
C-shaped, with a wide head at the front tapering into a body and a tail. The head and body form part of the floor of the front (anterior) horn of the lateral ventricle; the tail curves forwards again into the temporal lobe, forming the roof of the ventricle’s lower (inferior) horn. So a single front-to-back (coronal) cut through the tail also crosses the body and the head. [1]
The internal capsule, a thick band of white matter, separates it from the putamen, which lies further out; the caudate is the inner (medial) half of the dorsal striatum and the putamen the outer (lateral) half. [1][3]
What it does
Long associated with motor processes, it also plays roles in non-motor functions such as procedural learning, associative learning and inhibitory control of action. [1]
It is one of the brain structures that make up the reward system, and it works as part of the loop that runs from the cortex through the basal ganglia and thalamus back to the cortex. [1]
OpenStax describes the basal nuclei (caudate, putamen and globus pallidus) as responsible for cognitive processing, most importantly the processing linked to planning movements. [4]
Connections
Dense dopamine input from the substantia nigra pars compacta in the midbrain, and inputs from association areas of the cortex; imaging links it closely with the executive areas of the frontal lobe. [1][5]
Its output goes to the globus pallidus and the substantia nigra, which send the basal ganglia’s signals on through the thalamus back to the cortex. [2]
Inside it
Grey matter. With the putamen it is called the striatum because of the striped (striated) look of its grey and white matter. [6]
Other names
Caudate means “having a tail” (Latin cauda, tail); the parts are named head (caput), body (corpus) and tail (cauda). With the putamen it forms the dorsal striatum. [1][6]
Size
On this model the left caudate nucleus measures about 64 mm front to back, 37 mm top to bottom and 32 mm side to side (the box it fits in, not its volume); the right one is its mirror image. [7]
Centre of the left caudate nucleus compared with the centre of the left putamen: 4 mm further back, 9 mm closer to the midline; 10 mm apart in a straight line. [7]
Centre of the left caudate nucleus compared with the centre of the left thalamus: 16 mm further forward, 3 mm higher, 6 mm further from the midline; 17 mm apart in a straight line. [7]
Facts describe anatomy and normal function only. The 3D model is the adult male BodyParts3D brain (credits and licence); real brains vary in size and shape, so its measurements describe one model, not anyone’s brain.