Multi-electrode recordings reveal enhanced beta-synchrony along the cortico-striatal axis in the rat model of parkinsonism

Recent studies in primates and patients suffering from Parkinson's disease emphasize an excessive synchronization of activity in the basal ganglia in the beta-frequency range, emerging as a network effect of dopamine depletion. The striatum, as the head end of the circuit linking cerebral cortex and basal ganglia, may be a crucial point for the emergence or/and maintenance of increased temporal coupling. To assess changes in coupling between neuronal assemblies in the cortex and the striatum following unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of midbrain dopamine neurons, we recorded unit activity and local field pot…