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Updated: Oct 22, 2025
A Structured Rehabilitation Protocol for Improved Multifunctional Prosthetic Control: A Case Study
Published on: November 6, 2015
Changes in Sensorimotor Cortical Activation in Children Using Prostheses and Prosthetic Simulators
Christopher Copeland1, Mukul Mukherjee1, Yingying Wang2
1Department of Biomechanics, University of Nebraska-Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182, USA.
Insights
Prosthetic simulators may enhance sensory feedback processing in children, potentially improving prosthesis training. This study compared neural responses in children using prostheses and simulators.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Rehabilitation Engineering
- Human Motor Control
Background:
- Children with upper limb reduction (ULR) often use body-powered prostheses.
- Understanding the neural basis of simulator use is crucial for effective prosthetic rehabilitation.
- Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) allows non-invasive measurement of brain activity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural activation patterns in children using upper limb prostheses and prosthetic simulators.
- To compare brain activity between children with ULR using a prosthesis and typically developing (TD) children using a simulator.
- To explore the potential of prosthetic simulators in mimicking neural responses during motor tasks.
Main Methods:
- Utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure neural responses.
- Compared five children with congenital ULR using a prosthesis to five TD children using a simulator.
- Assessed brain activity in primary motor cortex (M1), supplementary motor area (SMA), and primary somatosensory area (S1) during a gross motor dexterity task.
Main Results:
- Children with ULR showed lower M1 and SMA activation compared to TD children using simulators.
- TD children exhibited higher S1 activation when using a simulator versus their non-preferred hand.
- No significant differences in S1 activation were found between the ULR and TD groups when using the simulator/prosthesis.
Conclusions:
- Prosthetic simulators may induce rapid shifts in sensory feedback prioritization, emphasizing proprioceptive and tactile input.
- Findings suggest simulators can elicit neural responses similar to actual prosthesis use.
- This research can inform the development of improved prosthetic rehabilitation strategies and tool-use training.
Abstract:
This study aimed to examine the neural responses of children using prostheses and prosthetic simulators to better elucidate the emulation abilities of the simulators. We utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to evaluate the neural response in five children with a congenital upper limb reduction (ULR) using a body-powered prosthesis to complete a 60 s gross motor dexterity task. The ULR group was matched with five typically developing children (TD) using their non-preferred hand and a prosthetic simulator on the same hand. The ULR group had lower activation within the primary motor cortex (M1) and supplementary motor area (SMA) compared to the TD group, but nonsignificant differences in the primary somatosensory area (S1). Compared to using their non-preferred hand, the TD group exhibited significantly higher action in S1 when using the simulator, but nonsignificant differences in M1 and SMA. The non-significant differences in S1 activation between groups and the increased activation evoked by the simulator's use may suggest rapid changes in feedback prioritization during tool use. We suggest that prosthetic simulators may elicit increased reliance on proprioceptive and tactile feedback during motor tasks. This knowledge may help to develop future prosthesis rehabilitative training or the improvement of tool-based skills.
