the effectiveness of DBS to alleviate the symptoms of OCD and major depression is starting to be explored, with some success (Aouizerate et al., 2009; Okun et al., 2007; Schlaepfer et al., 2008; Tass et al., 2003; Vassoler et al. 2008). While it is possible that some of these effects arise from stimulation of ventral striatal afferents, such as orbitofrontal cortex (McCracken and Grace, 2007), these results are consistent with a functional role for ventral striatal oscillatory activity. Furthermore, recording from ventral striatum in humans, Cohen et al. (2009) found gamma activity following reward receipt; thus, both our study and studies in humans indicate that ventral striatal gamma activity is associated with both reward processing and movement initiation (Brown, 2003). Such observations suggest significant overlap with our data from rats, such that a better understanding of gamma oscillations in ventral striatum could provide a useful tool in guiding and interpreting human studies.
