Study maps dual brain rhythms in Parkinson’s disease

During deep brain stimulation surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center, electrodes were being implanted while researchers recorded electrical activity from several brain regions at once. In 23 patients with Parkinson’s disease, the team found not one abnormal beta rhythm but two: low-beta and high-beta signals moving through the movement-control network.

The patterns were not interchangeable. The researchers identified distinct locations, timing and possible functions for the two signals: fast activity linked the motor cortex with the outer globus pallidus, while slower abnormal activity grew stronger in the inner globus pallidus. The recordings expose a sequence across connected regions rather than an isolated disturbance in a single spot.

That changes the treatment map. Parkinson’s symptoms—including slowed movement, rigidity and resting tremor—are associated with a deficiency of dopamine, a chemical messenger, and with abnormal electrical activity in the brain. The study’s model says that coordination, timing and direction may matter as much as the amount of beta activity.

So what changes for patients? Current DBS—deep brain stimulation, which delivers controlled electrical impulses through implanted electrodes—typically uses constant stimulation to reduce abnormal neural activity and improve movement symptoms. The UT Southwestern findings could guide future systems that measure low-beta and high-beta rhythms separately, then adjust stimulation more precisely and responsively.

The result remains a research finding, not a demonstrated upgrade to clinical DBS. The signals were recorded during implantation surgery, and the researchers have not shown here that targeting the two rhythms separately improves outcomes. Jeong Woo Choi, Nader Pouratian and colleagues published the work in Cell Reports Medicine in 2026.