what does the basal ganglia do

The basal ganglia are a group of subcortical nuclei within the brain responsible primarily for motor control, as well as other roles such as motor learning, executive functions, emotional behaviors, and reward and reinforcement. They are involved in controlling conscious and proprioceptive movements, and they receive signals from the cortex, weighing those signals to effectively choose which actions to allow and which actions to inhibit. The basal ganglia also play a role in learning, emotional processing, and other non-motor functions. Their proper functioning requires dopamine to be released at the input nuclei, and dopamine dysfunction is associated with several movement disorders such as Parkinsons disease. The basal ganglia network is now viewed as multiple parallel loops and re-entering circuits, engaging mainly in the control of movement, behavior, and emotions.