Comments on: The brain’s internal map adapts to include prosthetics

By: Stanley Worsfold

Stanley Worsfold — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 00:53:04 +0000

I dunno how I ended up coming to this page, I was looking for something that is completely different. Anyways, you've got some nice website right here. I can't believe I read the whole thing! You are doing an amazing job.

By: Dngo

Dngo — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:11:01 +0000

New scientist don’t exactly have their rubber finger on the pulse here. Neuroplasticity in amputees has been measured in many ways for a long time.

EMG, nerve conductivity mapping, PET, fMRI just to name a few. The real discovery here is the pace, and that peripheral tools are also incorporated into the humunculus.

For a delicious controversy between hard core neural implantation vs. simpler control via harnessing dynamic systems theory, google todd kuiken and Peter Kyberd and compare their approaches. They are scholars though so it never gets nasty. Just one costs about a zillion dollars and the other about 100. With maybe 100k upper limb amputees in the world, you do the maths.

By: KBlack

KBlack — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:44:42 +0000

First evidence? Dr. Nicolelis at Duke University made a quite stunning demonstration of the brain’s plasticity, without even looking for it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTVVYYxY9Cs

The whole video is interesting, but the part relevant to this article starts at about 4:20 (insert pothead joke here)

By: m1k3y

m1k3y — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:44:57 +0000

Broken links removed.. bad copy’n'paste on my part there; I guess that’s what happens when I post on flu meds.

By: Dr. Curiosity

Dr. Curiosity — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:06:46 +0000

I’m really surprised that people (apparently) haven’t done this kind of research before. Given that the brain would have to account for all the changes wrought by controlling a growing organism, it makes sense that this kind of model exists. Heck, anyone who’s had a period of uncoordinatedness as a result of a growth spurt can tell you that it takes a bit of time to adjust, and that’s not just due to muscle growth/fatigue.

(Also, all your internal links on this article seem to be 404ing – looks like they’re using some kind of internal reference scheme rather than your standard date-based URLs.)