Phantom Limbs, Neuroprosthetics, and the Developmental Origins of Embodiment.
Amputees who wish to rid themselves of a phantom limb must weaken the neural representation of the absent limb. Conversely, amputees who wish to replace a lost limb must assimilate a neuroprosthetic with the existing neural representation. Whether we wish to remove a phantom limb or assimilate a synthetic one, we will benefit from knowing more about the developmental process that enables embodiment. A potentially critical contributor to that process is the spontaneous activity - in the form of limb twitches - that occurs exclusively and abundantly during active (REM) sleep, a particularly prominent state in early development. The sensorimotor circuits activated by twitching limbs, and the developmental context in which activation occurs, could provide a roadmap for creating neuroprosthetics that feel as if they are part of the body.
['Blumberg|Mark S|MS|', 'Dooley|James C|JC|']
D000818:Animals D005121:Extremities D006801:Humans D009068:Movement D058117:Neural Prostheses D010591:Phantom Limb D012890:Sleep
development REM sleep body schema brain–machine interface cerebellum motor cortex myoclonic twitching neural circuit