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Brain Rewires Itself After Hand Transplant
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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 What did this part of the man's brain do for the last 35 years without the right hand to monitor? Frey said it appears that the brain cells would not have been dormant.
"We know that if you lose a hand, there will be a reorganization of function (by the cells)," he said. "We know they take on other functions. We're a little unclear on exactly what those functions are."
The next step in research is to see if sensation returns in the fingers, Frey said. "How is the brain processing that information coming in from individual digits?"
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Ultimately, he said, the research could lead to better treatments for people with a variety of brain or spinal cord injuries, such as stroke.
Dr. Krishnankutty Sathian, director of Emory University's Neurorehabilitation Program, said the study is a "fascinating" look at what scientists call "brain plasticity" -- the brain's ability to change itself.
"It extends our concepts of brain plasticity in a new direction, by showing that the reorganization of sensory representations that occurs in amputees is potentially reversible, even after decades," he said.
More information
Learn more about hand transplants from Brown University.
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Copyright © 2008 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 10/9/2008
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SOURCES: Scott H. Frey, Ph.D., director, Lewis Center for NeuroImaging, and associate professor, psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene; Krishnankutty Sathian, M.D., director, Neurorehabilitation Program, and professor, neurology, Emory University, Atlanta; Oct. 14, 2008, Current Biology
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