Motor learning leverages coordinated low-frequency cortico-basal ganglia activity to optimize motor preparation in humans with Parkinson's disease.

ABSTRACT: Learning dexterous motor sequences is crucial to autonomy and quality of life but can be altered in Parkinson's disease (PD). Learning involves optimizing pre-movement planning (preplanning) of multiple sequence elements to reduce computational overhead during active movement. However, it is unclear which brain regions mediate preplanning or how this process evolves with learning. Recording cortico-basal ganglia field potentials during a multi-day typing task in four individuals with PD, we found evidence for network-wide multi-element preplanning that improved with learning, facilitated by functional connectivity. In both cortex and basal ganglia, pre-movement gamma (γ, 30-250 Hz) activity, historically linked to population spiking, distinguished between future action sequences and

SUBMITTER: Presbrey KN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12106502 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature