^BRobotic brain surgery.^b ^INeuroMate^i robot (at left) operates on the brain of a patient who suffers from Parkinson's disease. It is implanting 4 elec- trodes into the thalamus at the base of the brain through a hole in the skull. The patient is under a local anaesthetic and remains conscious during the operation. This allows the surgeons to check that the electrodes have been implanted correctly by asking him what he feels when they are activated. The electrodes prevent the trembling caused by Parkinson's by stimulating degenerated nerve cells in the brain. The ^INeuroMate^i was devel- oped by Professor Alim-Louis Benabid at the Alain-Michallon Hospital in Grenoble, France.