The most frequently used target for DBS in advanced Parkinson Disease (PD) is the sensorimotor subthalamic nucleus (STN), anatomically referred to as dorso-lateral STN

Ambiguities arise, regarding the true meaning of this description in the STN. Does “dorsal” indicate posterior or superior? At its best, this definition assigns two directions in space to a three-dimensional structure 1).

1)
Coenen VA, Prescher A, Schmidt T, Picozzi P, Gielen FL. What is dorso-lateral in the subthalamic Nucleus (STN)?–a topographic and anatomical consideration on the ambiguous description of today's primary target for deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery. Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2008 Nov;150(11):1163-5; discussion 1165. doi: 10.1007/s00701-008-0136-x. Epub 2008 Oct 29. PubMed PMID: 18958389.