Researchers say they have identified a specific brain network that may sit at the core of Parkinson\u2019s disease, potentially reshaping how the condition is understood and treated. The findings focus on the somato-cognitive action network, or SCAN, which links planning and thinking with physical movement.<\/p>\n
Parkinson\u2019s is a progressive neurological disorder affecting more than 10 million people worldwide, commonly causing tremor, stiffness, slowed movement, sleep disruption and cognitive changes. Standard therapies such as levodopa can ease symptoms for years, while deep brain stimulation can help selected patients, but neither stops disease progression.<\/p>\n
The international team, led by China\u2019s Changping Laboratory with collaborators including Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, analyzed brain imaging data from more than 800 participants across several centers. The dataset included people with Parkinson\u2019s receiving different treatments, along with healthy volunteers and people with other movement disorders for comparison.<\/p>\n
The researchers report that Parkinson\u2019s is marked by unusually strong connectivity between SCAN and deeper brain structures in the subcortex. Across multiple therapies examined, the study found that treatments tended to work better when they reduced this excessive coupling rather than simply stimulating nearby regions.<\/p>\n
Building on that signal, the team tested a personalized, high-precision approach using transcranial magnetic stimulation, a non-invasive technique that delivers magnetic pulses through the scalp. In a small trial, 18 patients who received SCAN-targeted stimulation showed a higher response rate after two weeks than 18 patients who received stimulation near, but not on, the SCAN target.<\/p>\n
In the SCAN-targeted group, 56% met the study\u2019s response threshold, compared with 22% in the comparison group, a roughly 2.5-fold difference. The work suggests that matching stimulation more precisely to an individual\u2019s SCAN anatomy could improve outcomes, though larger and longer studies are needed.<\/p>\n
The authors caution that the study does not prove SCAN changes cause Parkinson\u2019s, and the non-invasive results are early-stage. They also note that more basic research is needed to map how different SCAN subregions relate to specific symptoms such as gait, tremor, mood and cognition.<\/p>\n
Even so, the findings add momentum to efforts to move neuromodulation earlier in the disease course, when symptoms are still developing and disability is lower. The researchers say future trials will explore additional non-invasive approaches, including surface electrode stimulation and low-intensity focused ultrasound, to influence SCAN activity more precisely.<\/p>\n
The study was published in Nature on Feb. 4 and was supported by funding from U.S. National Institutes of Health programs and major Chinese research grants. The authors also disclosed multiple industry relationships and patent interests related to neuromodulation and targeting tools, which were reported as managed under institutional conflict-of-interest policies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new Nature study links Parkinson\u2019s to the SCAN brain network and reports early, small-trial gains from precisely targeted non-invasive stimulation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":18856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[10096,10098,10099,10015,10094,10095,10097],"miestas":[],"class_list":["post-18855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","tag-gilioji-smegenu-stimuliacija","tag-nature","tag-neuromoduliacija","tag-parkinsono-liga","tag-scan","tag-transkranijine-magnetine-stimuliacija","tag-washington-university-school-of-medicine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18855"},{"taxonomy":"miestas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cp.snarskis.lt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/miestas?post=18855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}