title: Parkinson's Disease: A Thalamostriatal Rebalancing Act?
abstract: Motor impairments in Parkinson's disease are thought to result from hypoactivation of striatal projection neurons in the direct pathway. In this issue of Neuron, Parker et al. (2016) report that dopamine depletion selectively weakens thalamic but not cortical afferents onto these neurons, implicating the thalamus as playing a key role in Parkinsonian motor symptoms.
authors.affiliation: NYU Neuroscience Institute, Fresco Institute for Parkinson's and Movement Disorders, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA. Electronic address: nicolas.tritsch@nyumc.org.
authors.forename: Nicolas X
authors.initials: NX
authors.lastname: Tritsch
authors.affiliation: Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA. Electronic address: adam.carter@nyu.edu.
authors.forename: Adam G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Carter
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000473:pathology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D020734:Parkinsonian Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000473:pathology*