It turns out that the image of the body in the brain changes when using 'robot fingers'
It has also been reported that humans can use tools as if they were their own bodies, and feel the feel of the tools in their hands with
Robotic hand augmentation drives changes in neural body representation | Science Robotics
https://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/6/54/eabd7935
Robotic'Third Thumb' use can alter brain representation of the hand | UCL News --UCL – University College London
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2021/may/robotic-third-thumb-use-can-alter-brain-representation-hand
Here's What Happened to People's Brains After Receiving a Robotic'Third Thumb'
https://www.sciencealert.com/attaching-a-third-thumb-rejigs-the-brain-s-representation-of-our-hands
Developed by designer Danielle Clode, the 'third thumb' is intended to be worn by people with the same five fingers as normal, unlike the prosthetic limbs that make up for the missing limbs. Professor Tamar Makin's research team at University College London (UCL) , who was studying how the brain adapts to tools that expand the body, said that this third thumb is suitable for research. We decided to invite Mr. Clode to conduct joint research.
You can see what kind of tool the third thumb is by watching the following movie.
'Third Thumb' Being Used to Touch Other Fingers --YouTube
The third thumb is made by a 3D printer and is worn where it is paired with the original thumb.
The third thumb is wirelessly connected to the pressure sensor attached to the big toe, and training will enable intuitive operation.
The research team trained 20 subjects with a third thumb on them for five days to use them freely. In addition, the subjects were encouraged to take their third thumb home every day and use it in their daily lives, and it seems that they wore the third thumb on average for about 2 to 6 hours per day. On the other hand, 10 subjects were made to wear a third thumb that did not move as a control group.
What happened to the subject wearing the third thumb in this experiment is explained in the following movie.
If you make full use of your third thumb, you can grab a large number of oranges with one hand ...
It is possible to open the cap while holding the PET bottle with one hand.
In addition, hold two Jenga with one hand and stack them up ...
After five days of training, subjects were able to use their third thumb to a fairly high degree.
In addition, the subject was able to use the third thumb even in situations such as being blindfolded or having to solve a math problem. From this, Clode said, 'Our research shows that people can sensuously learn to operate expansion devices and use them for themselves. People while using their third thumb. Reported that he could naturally change his hand movements and the robot's thumb felt like it was part of his body. '
The research team wanted to investigate in this experiment, 'How do body-expanding devices affect the image of the body in the brain?' Therefore, the research team performed
The part of the sensorimotor cortex that is activated by moving the fingers of the hand differs depending on the finger.
However, in the subject trained with the third thumb, it was found that the part to be activated when moving five fingers was slightly closer and the area of each finger began to blur. In addition, when fMRI scan was performed again one week after the training of the third thumb, the region of the sensorimotor cortex that was activated according to the movement of the fingers was restored, so the change was the first. It may have been temporary only while training with 3 thumbs.
Professor Makin said, 'Evolution does not prepare us to use extra body parts. To expand our abilities in new and unexpected ways, our brains are biological bodies. I found that I needed to adapt my representation. '
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