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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 17, 2026

Whole-cell Patch-clamp Recordings in Brain Slices

Whole-cell Patch-clamp Recordings in Brain Slices

Published on: June 15, 2016

Why were the textbooks wrong about brain plasticity?

Harriet Dempsey-Jones¹

¹School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia.

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

|September 21, 2025

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Brain body maps show surprising stability, contrary to previous beliefs. Missing limb representations persist, indicating a more complex neural plasticity than previously understood.

Keywords:

SI cortical maps cortical reorganisation deprivation phantom limb phantom pain primary somatosensory cortex remapping reorganisation

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Last Updated: Jan 17, 2026

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Published on: January 20, 2023

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Neuroplasticity
Somatosensory system

Background:

Textbook models suggest dramatic brain remapping after limb loss.
Previous interpretations of brain plasticity may have overlooked persistent neural representations.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the stability of the brain's body map after limb loss.
To re-evaluate the extent and nature of neural plasticity in the somatosensory cortex.

Main Methods:

Utilized advanced neuroimaging techniques to probe brain activity.
Examined neural responses in the context of missing limb representations.

Main Results:

Revealed unexpected stability in the brain's representation of the body.
Demonstrated that representations for missing limbs persist, challenging theories of complete remapping.
Identified that plasticity was previously only partially understood.

Conclusions:

The brain's body map exhibits greater stability than commonly assumed.
Persistent neural representations for missing limbs offer new insights into neuroplasticity.
Further research is needed to fully understand the conditions under which these persistent representations become active.