The basal vein is a

vein Veins are blood vessels in humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated b ...

in the

brain A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a v ...

. It is formed at the anterior perforated substance by the union of * (a) a ''small anterior cerebral vein'' which accompanies the

anterior cerebral artery The anterior cerebral artery (ACA) is one of a pair of cerebral arteries that supplies oxygenated blood to most midline portions of the frontal lobes and superior medial parietal lobes of the brain. The two anterior cerebral arteries arise from t ...

and supplies the medial surface of the frontal lobe by the fronto-basal vein. * (b) the ''deep middle cerebral vein'' (''deep Sylvian vein''), which receives tributaries from the insula and neighboring

gyri In neuroanatomy, a gyrus (pl. gyri) is a ridge on the cerebral cortex. It is generally surrounded by one or more sulci (depressions or furrows; sg. ''sulcus''). Gyri and sulci create the folded appearance of the brain in humans and other ma ...

, and runs in the lower part of the

lateral cerebral fissure In neuroanatomy, the lateral sulcus (also called Sylvian fissure, after Franciscus Sylvius, or lateral fissure) is one of the most prominent features of the human brain. The lateral sulcus is a deep fissure in each hemisphere that separates the ...

, and * (c) the ''inferior striate veins'', which leave the

corpus striatum The striatum, or corpus striatum (also called the striate nucleus), is a nucleus (a cluster of neurons) in the subcortical basal ganglia of the forebrain. The striatum is a critical component of the motor and reward systems; receives glutamat ...

through the anterior perforated substance. The basal vein passes backward around the

cerebral peduncle The cerebral peduncles are the two stalks that attach the cerebrum to the brainstem. They are structures at the front of the midbrain which arise from the ventral pons and contain the large ascending (sensory) and descending (motor) nerve tra ...

, and ends in the

great cerebral vein The great cerebral vein is one of the large blood vessels in the skull draining the cerebrum of the brain. It is also known as the "vein of Galen", named for its discoverer, the Greek physician Galen. However, it is not the only vein with this epon ...

; it receives tributaries from the

interpeduncular fossa The interpeduncular fossa is a deep depression of the ventral surface of the midbrain between the two crura cerebri. It has been found in humans and macaques, but not in rats or mice, showing that this is a relatively new evolutionary region. A ...

, the inferior horn of the lateral ventricle, the hippocampal gyrus, and the

mid-brain The midbrain or mesencephalon is the forward-most portion of the brainstem and is associated with vision, hearing, motor control, sleep and wakefulness, arousal (alertness), and temperature regulation. The name comes from the Greek ''mesos'', "m ...

References

External links

Diagram at ucla.edu
Veins of the head and neck {{circulatory-stub