Timing may be key to understanding cognitive problems in Parkinson’s disease

People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and mice that lack dopamine both are missing a critical brain wave needed for timing actions — a cognitive process that’s consistently impaired in patients with PD, new research shows. Brain stimulation at the same frequency as the missing brain wave restores timing ability in mice lacking dopamine, suggesting that it might be possible to use brain stimulation to improve cognitive problems in PD.