Subthalamic nucleus (STN) neurons have a pivotal role in basal ganglia, as a result of their intrinsic membrane properties, connections within the circuit and glutamatergic nature. Their innate pacemaker activity, consisting of a single-spike tonic mode of discharge, is abolished in the case of hemiballism, profoundly disrupted in the Parkinsonian state and replaced by a regular bursting mode under treatment (high-frequency stimulation, HFS). We propose that control STN activity represents a clock, an internal measure of time allowing the correct automatic execution of learned movements and, in particular, the automatic switch from one movement to the next in a sequential motor pattern. STN neuronal activity would be able to reset the frequency of oscillations of motor thalamo-cortical loops, notably in the γ band.

Thalamic and cortical neurons are richly and reciprocally interconnected and support recurrent functional loops in the intact brain, but the role of this circuitry is still poorly understood. Here, we present evidence—from cellular and from functional neuroimaging in control and clinical domains—that thalamocortical resonance is not only a prerequisite for normal cognition, but that its perturbation, in a dynamic sense (e.g. a dysrhythmia) can underlie a variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders.