Local field potential (LFP) oscillations are thought to reflect organization underlying a wide range of processes across different brain areas, including attention, perception, movement planning and initiation, and memory (Buzsáki, 2006; Fries et al., 2007; Lisman, 2005). In the basal ganglia specifically, abnormal LFP patterns are a key biomarker for Parkinson's disease, as indicated by correlations between LFP properties and the severity of movement-related impairments (Brown, 2007; Hammond et al., 2007). Treatment by deep brain stimulation (DBS) or levodopa reduces pathological LFP patterns while alleviating symptoms (Brown, 2003; Perlmutter and Mink, 2006). While the majority of such work has focused on the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and globus pallidus (GP), there is also evidence linking altered LFPs in dorsal striatum to the Parkinsonian state (Courtemanche et al., 2003; Goldberg et al., 2004; Levy et al., 2002; Raz et al., 2001). In healthy subjects (rats), dorsal striatal LFPs have been linked to learning and performance of a procedural maze task (DeCoteau et al., 2007; Tort et al., 2008). Such findings suggest that dorsal striatal LFPs are associated with functionally relevant processing in movement-related as well as more cognitive settings.
