An international team of scientists has published a study in the prestigious journal Nature Communications showing that the brains of children born with an upper limb difference undergo significant reorganisation from an early age. Scientists Matěj Hoffmann a Zdeněk Straka from the humanoid group participated in the research, developing a computational model explaining the mechanism behind these changes.
The study, entitled ‘Global remapping of the sensory homunculus emerges early in childhood development’, was produced in collaboration with several research teams specialising in neuroscience and developmental psychology from the University of Cambridge, Durham University and University College London. Representing FEE CTU were Associate Professor Matěj Hoffmann and Dr. Zdeněk Straka from the humanoid robotics group. Roboticists from EPFL Lausanne also took part in the experiments; they developed a special pneumatic device enabling the stimulation of touch whilst the brain is being scanned in an MRI scanner.
More information is available at the Faculty website.
Photo Credit: Petr Neugebauer