Improving deep brain stimulation: timing makes all the difference

Today there is an unprecedented wealth of information about the electrophysiology, the brain anatomy and the biochemical pathways relevant to Parkinson’s disease (PD). Translating this information into better treatments is a major challenge to academia and industry and requires sophisticated models of how the basal ganglia interact with the remaining motor system. With respect to electrophysiology, early models of basal ganglia function have focused on firing rates (1,2), whereas nowadays most researchers would agree that the exact timing of neuronal activity is crucial to basal ganglia function (3,4).