{
  "id": 5646098,
  "title": "Frontal stimulation reshapes SCAN connectivity and improves motor function in Parkinson's disease",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/04/frontal-stimulation-reshapes-scan-connectivity-and-improves-motor",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-04T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.31.748359v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor deficits like bradykinesia and impaired coordination, as well as cognitive issues such as attention and executive functions. Recent studies indicate that specific motor problems, like freezing of gait, may be linked to abnormalities in frontal cortical processing, which is typically involved in executive functions. However, the causal relationship between cognitive impairment and motor deficits in Parkinson's patients remains unclear. To investigate whether stimulating the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) could influence motor function, researchers used a combination of non-invasive brain stimulation and functional MRI (fMRI). Participants with Parkinson's disease executed a precision force-tracking task, which mirrors gait impairment, while undergoing fMRI scans. On half of the trials, participants performed a cognitively demanding 2-back working memory task to challenge their attentional systems. After an initial baseline scan, participants returned for three separate sessions where they received transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) targeting the right DLPFC. During one session, they received excitatory stimulation, while another received inhibitory stimulation, and the third received stimulation to a control site unrelated to the cognitive and motor areas involved in the task. The results revealed that excitatory stimulation of the DLPFC improved the motor performance in the precision force-tracking task, particularly when cognitive demands were high. This improvement was marked by reduced tracking error and smoother movement execution. Furthermore, the enhanced motor function was associated with decreased functional connectivity between the stimulation site and primary motor cortex, as well as within the somato-cognitive action network (SCAN), a network thought to support action planning and whole-body movement coordination. These findings suggest that frontal cognitive control systems have a causal role in modulating movement in Parkinson's disease, and that targeting these systems with non-invasive interventions could potentially enhance motor function.",
  "summary": "Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder with characteristic motor deficits of bradykinesia and impaired coordination, and non-motor deficits affecting cognitive abilities such as attention and executive functions. Recent evidence suggests that some canonical motor deficits in Parkinson's disease (e.g., freezing of gait) are associated with abnormalities in frontal cortical processing…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}