Israeli researchers report that low‑frequency deep brain stimulation (DBS) applied to the globus pallidus externus (GPe) restored adaptive behavior in two African green monkeys with PCP‑induced, schizophrenia‑like deficits. The study, published in Nature Communications and reported by The Times of Israel, links a specific basal‑ganglia circuit to a core symptom of schizophrenia: the inability to update internal predictions in response to changing evidence.
Researchers gave the monkeys PCP, an NMDA‑receptor antagonist known to produce deficits in prediction and behavioral flexibility. While the animals performed tasks that required learning from mistakes, the team recorded neural activity and found a disruption in the balance between prefrontal cortex signals and basal ganglia output. Animals on PCP showed reduced ability to adapt after errors.
Targeting the GPe with continuous low‑frequency stimulation at 13 Hz improved the monkeys’ ability to correct behavior after mistakes, the authors report. The stimulation did not cure the underlying condition — the study used a pharmacological model in two animals — but it reduced the specific inflexibility the team measured.
"Basically, the brain is a prediction machine," Dr. Nir Asch of Rambam Health Care Campus told The Times of Israel. He described schizophrenia, in part, as a failure to update the brain's internal model when reality changes. The paper frames GPe dysfunction as one circuit-level contributor to that failure.
The authors and reporters note this is early, preclinical work. The sample size is two animals and the effect was tested in a chemically induced model of schizophrenia, so translation to humans remains uncertain. Still, the study provides a concrete stimulation target and a candidate mechanism for symptoms that do not respond to current therapies.
For context, researchers commonly cite about 21 million people living with schizophrenia worldwide and estimate roughly one‑third have treatment‑resistant forms; average life expectancy for people with schizophrenia is also reduced, figures the team referenced as background.
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Tags: deep brain stimulation, schizophrenia, globus pallidus externus, animal study, PCP
Topics: Deep brain stimulation, Neuromodulation, Neuroscience & neuroplasticity