Levodopa and deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapies have similar clinical benefits in patients with Parkinson disease (PD), but new research suggests that they exert very different effects on the functional architecture of the brain. In the new study, investigators carried out functional MRI in 13 patients with PD who had severe motor symptoms and dyskinesia. The individuals were imaged in the presence or absence of levodopa treatment and before and after the implantation of DBS electrodes into the subthalamic nucleus. Levodopa and DBS elicited a similar alleviation of symptoms, but DBS alone resulted in a substantial increase in connectivity within the left and right motor cortices and between the motor cortices and the cerebellum and thalamus. Further study of these changes in connectivity might reveal the exact mechanism by which DBS exerts its therapeutic effect in PD, which could enable the refinement and improvement of this procedure.