Pars basalis telencephali

The basal forebrain structures are located in the forebrain to the front of and below the striatum.

They include the ventral basal ganglia (including nucleus accumbens and ventral pallidum), nucleus basalis, diagonal band of Broca, substantia innominata, and the medial septal nucleus.

These structures are important in the production of acetylcholine, which is then distributed widely throughout the brain.

The basal forebrain is considered to be the major cholinergic output of the central nervous system (CNS) centred on the output of the nucleus basalis.

The presence of non-cholinergic neurons projecting to the cortex have been found to act with the cholinergic neurons to dynamically modulate activity in the cortex.