While tonic GABA appears to suppress brain repair after stroke, the effects of phasic (synaptic) GABA signalling are unclear. Hiu et al. reveal an increase in phasic GABA signalling during the repair phase that enhances plasticity-related recovery in mice. Increasing phasic signalling with zolpidem improves behavioural recovery, suggesting therapeutic potential.

The GPe is a central basal ganglia nucleus that can influence numerous downstream regions 8 . The majority of GPe neurons express parvalbumin and innervate multiple basal ganglia and thalamic nuclei [9][10][11][12] . Recent studies have demonstrated that projection-defined neuronal subclasses within the neighboring internal globus pallidus (GPi) and ventral pallidum can mediate separate behaviors [3][4][5] , suggesting that a similar functional organization may exist within the GPe. However, the relationship between the anatomical organization of GPe neurons and behavioral function remains poorly understood.Great attention has been drawn to the potential role of the GPe in motor control as movement-entrained neural activity have been observed in GPe neurons. Moreover, aberrant GPe neuronal activity is highly associated with movement deficits in both PD patients 13 and