How do altered patterns of motor behaviour affect brain organisation?

We are interested in understanding the potential link between sensory deprivation (input loss) and adaptive behaviour. For example, we wish to determine whether amputees and individuals who were born without a hand can develop “super powers” due to the neural processes triggered by input loss. We aim to understand how these processes can facilitate the strong behavioural pressure to pick up new skills to cope with their disability. For instance, we are interested in understanding how congenital sensory deprivation affect cortical organisation from childhood to adulthood, and what role compensatory behaviours play in this process.

Example papers: Wesselink et al., 2022, Science Advances; Dempsey-Jones et al., 2019, Cell Reports; Hahamy et al., 2017, Curr Biol.; Makin et al., 2013, eLife;

How are artificial limbs represented in the brain? 

While tremendous resources are dedicated to the development of cutting-edge prosthetic limbs to aid amputees to cope with their disability, a staggering 50% of amputees do not use their prosthesis regularly. We believe that a better implementation of artificial limbs can only emerge from a true understanding of the cognitive and neurophysiological constraints of prosthesis representation and usage. Our work explores whether neural resources, uniquely developed for hand representation, become repurposed to support artificial limbs, and whether neural “embodiment” of prosthetic limbs can be improved. 

Example papers:  Schone et al., 2023, Nature Human Behaviour; Maimon-Mor & Makin, 2020, PLoS Biol; van den Heiligenberg et al., 2018, Brain