We found a mathematical sign of a 'healthy' brain hiding inside people with Parkinson's—and it might be the key to helping them.
March 20, 2026
Original Paper
Emergent critical oscillations in motor cortex of Parkinson's patients
bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.01.09.698590
The Takeaway
For years, neuroscientists believed that 'criticality'—a state of being perfectly balanced between order and chaos—was a hallmark of a healthy brain. This study found that the abnormal brain waves seen in Parkinson's also operate at this 'critical' point, proving that this 'ideal' state can actually represent a diseased brain.
From the abstract
The dynamical state of cortical neural activity constrains the complexity of functions it can perform. A marginally stable dynamical state - called criticality - is thought to be beneficial for brain functions that require multiple time scales, broad dynamic range, and large information storage and transmission. A growing body of evidence suggests that criticality is a feature of healthy brain dynamics, but breaks down in certain brain disorders. Here we ask whether Parkinson's disease incurs de