bioRxiv ScienceSearch

bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.08.25.744491

Pallidal beta oscillations underlying locomotor adaptation in Parkinsons disease

Abstract

BackgroundLocomotor adaptation is essential for adjusting walking patterns to complex environments. This study investigated locomotor adaptation deficits in people with Parkinsons disease (PD) and examined oscillatory activity in the globus pallidus internus (GPi) during walking adaptation. We hypothesized that elevated beta-band activity in the GPi is associated with reduced locomotor adaptability in PD. MethodsTwelve PD patients with GPi deep brain stimulation (DBS) (eleven bilateral and one unilateral) were included. Local field potentials (LFPs) were recorded from DBS electrodes during split-belt treadmill walking. Patients were tested in the medication-off, DBS-off state. Locomotor adaptation was measured as the change in step length asymmetry during split-belt walking, with smaller changes indicating greater adaptation deficits. ResultsWe found that GPi high beta (20-30 Hz) and low gamma (30-60 Hz) oscillations were modulated during split-belt walking. Compared to adapters, non-adapters showed decreased movement-related beta suppression during walking. Across participants, beta activity in the GPi contralateral to the fast leg was negatively associated with adaptation magnitude (Spearmans {rho} = -0.65 to -0.75). ConclusionsGPi oscillations are dynamically modulated during locomotor adaptation in PD. Increased beta activity may underlie impaired sensorimotor adaptation during walking. These findings provide novel insight into basal ganglia mechanisms of gait adaptation in PD and suggest that elevated GPi beta activity may serve as a marker of locomotor adaptation deficits.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Choi, J. T., Gurrala, A., Wang, D. D., de Hemptinne, C., Wong, J. K.. 2026-09-01. Pallidal beta oscillations underlying locomotor adaptation in Parkinsons disease. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.08.25.744491

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

Discover connections

Connections use source metadata and explicit phrase matches, not verified experimental comparisons.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related preprints

Evolution and Human Neural Individuality

Individuality is a defining feature of human biology. The functional network architecture of the human brain harbors person-specific qualities and forms individualized connectivity profiles that function as a neural fingerprint, both stable and unique across time. Here, using fMRI data from 431 Human Connectome Project participants, we examined whether neural individuality is more strongly exhibited in brain regions bearing signatures of recent human evolution. We calculated region-wise fingerprinting accuracy and associated it with four properties of evolutionary cortical organization: cortical expansion, myelin content estimate (T1w/T2w), human-specific gene-expression profiles, and functional homology to other primates. Across all four measures, neural individuality was strongest in cortical areas showing greater evolutionary novelty in humans, particularly frontoparietal control and default mode networks, and weaker in more conserved primary regions. Our findings connect evolutionary variation across species with stable functional variation among individuals.

neuroscience

Motor planning and execution establish distinct feedforward and feedback motor histories

Movements are systematically affected by the recent motor history. These history effects may be induced either by reused motor plans or from lingering tuning of the previous movements' execution. We dissociated planning and execution using four experimental manipulations across two complementary motor paradigms. We isolated planning by preventing execution with stop signals and mechanical blocks, and execution by moving participants' hand passively using a robot manipulandum. History effects emerged in feedforward movement aspects - reaction time and early movement kinematics - following isolated planning. In contrast, they were absent or markedly reduced for isolated execution. History effects emerged also in late movement aspect that involves sensory feedback during execution - movement accuracy and precision - but only when movements were both planned and executed. Feedforward effects generalized across hands, whereas feedback effects were effector specific. Thus, prior motor planning and execution make distinct and complementary contributions in shaping future motor behavior.

neuroscience

A cognitive representation in primary visual cortex modulated by vision

Primary visual cortex (V1) is a critical substrate for mammalian vision. Traditionally, visual inputs are thought to be the main drivers of V1 activity, with internal signals playing a modulatory role. Here we show that this relationship is inverted for a large fraction of V1 neurons. In rats completing a navigation task in darkness, these neurons encoded progress along physically distinct paths with a shared turn structure. Under illumination, visual stimuli gain-modulated this path-invariant activity rather than replacing it with stimulus-driven responses. Path-invariant V1 neurons were also preferentially coordinated with hippocampal ensembles during sharp-wave ripples, linking them to a brain-wide network involved in learning. These findings establish that an internal model of the world can serve as a primary driver of activity in sensory cortex.

neuroscience