The neural fingerprints of the missing hand
Please contact Paula Kaanders (paula.kaanders@wadham.ox.ac.uk) to arrange individual meetings.
Following arm-amputation, brain areas that previously operated the hand will be freed-up, and could potentially be “recruited” to work for other body parts (brain reorganisation). I will present recent results and ideas about how the brain undergoes reorganisation due to hand loss and the need to pick up alternative behavioural strategies. I will explore the neural correlates of a range of alternative hand functions, including extraordinarily dexterous foot usage, artificial limbs and supernumerary robotic fingers. Based on these findings I will challenge some of the basic textbook assumptions about the triggers and barriers of brain reorganisation, and suggest an alternative framework.
Date: 22 November 2018, 16:00 (Thursday, 7th week, Michaelmas 2018)
Venue: Sherrington Library, off Parks Road OX1 3PT
Speaker: Dr Tamar Makin (University College London)
Organiser: Cortex Club (University of Oxford)
Part of: Cortex Club - Oxford Neuroscience Society
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Marta Blanco pozo