Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 2, 2026
07:06
Block Building Task Identifies Distinct Groups of Left/Right-hand Choice Patterns After Unilateral Peripheral Nerve Injury
Published on: March 21, 2025
1.2K
Brain Plasticity: When the Feet and Mouth Replace the Hand
1Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Current Biology : CB
|May 10, 2017
Summary
Brain plasticity after limb loss can be harmful, causing phantom limb pain. However, in individuals born without a hand, the brain can reorganize its cortex in a compensatory manner to manage multiple body parts and overcome disability.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Neuroplasticity
- Human Anatomy
Background:
- Limb amputation often leads to maladaptive brain changes, contributing to phantom limb pain.
- Cortical plasticity is typically viewed as a detrimental consequence of limb loss.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the nature of cortical plasticity in individuals with congenital unilateral hand deficiency.
- To explore whether cortical reorganization can occur in a compensatory manner.
Main Methods:
- Utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to observe brain activity.
- Compared cortical activation patterns in individuals with and without congenital hand differences.
Main Results:
- Observed significant cortical reorganization in individuals born with one hand.
- This reorganization appeared to be compensatory, facilitating the use of remaining body parts.
- Evidence suggests a different functional outcome of neuroplasticity in congenital limb differences compared to acquired amputations.
Conclusions:
- Cortical plasticity following limb loss is not exclusively harmful.
- Congenital limb differences can drive adaptive cortical reorganization for functional compensation.
- This finding challenges the traditional view of negative outcomes associated with cortical changes post-amputation.
Related Concept Videos
01:01Neuroplasticity
2.1K
Neuroplasticity reflects the brain's remarkable capacity to adapt and evolve, responding dynamically to learning, experiences, or injury by reorganizing its neural circuitry. This reorganization involves creating new neural connections and refining old ones through a series of biological processes that contribute to the brain's lifelong development and adaptability.
2.1K
01:33Somatosensation
44.0K
The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.
44.0K
00:58Plasticity
3.2K
Plasticity is the property where an object loses its elasticity and undergoes irreversible deformation, even after the deformation forces are eliminated. If a material deforms irreversibly without increasing stress or load, then this is called ideal plasticity. For example, when a force is applied to an aluminum rod, it changes its shape, but it does not return to its original shape once the force is removed. Plastic deformation or ductility is thus a permanent deformation or change in the...
3.2K
01:05Cerebral Hemispheres
2.7K
The human brain, a complex organ, is functionally divided into two cerebral hemispheres—left and right. These hemispheres are interconnected by a structure of paramount importance, the corpus callosum. This substantial bundle of neural fibers is not just a bridge between the hemispheres but a crucial element for the brain's comprehensive functioning. It enables efficient communication between the two hemispheres, allowing each side of the brain to control and receive sensory and motor...
2.7K