

Brain's reaction to hand transplant  - noodle
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/37445/title/New_hand%2C_same_brain_map

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robg
_No consensus exists on how the brain rapidly reorganizes sensory maps
following hand amputation and then reverses course after surgical attachment
of a new hand_

That's assuming an either/or where there isn't one. Brain regions don't have
one function. If they did it would make our jobs that much easier! Instead,
the amputation likely dampened activation associated with the hand (phantom
pain results when it doesn't) and begins to respond to facial stimulation. But
there's still some input to that region from the rest of the arm. By plugging
in a new hand, the old region begins receiving very similar, but more
extensive, input since the connecting nerves, spinal cord to brain, are
intact. It's just a matter of the volume and frequency getting turned up. The
more difficult part is the brain re-learning the fine motor skills because:

 _Savage’s recovery so far is limited to major nerves in the right hand, not
to peripheral nerve connections for individual fingers, Frey says. It’s
unclear how the neural map of the right hand will adapt as Savage’s finger
nerves regenerate and finger sensation develops._

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PieSquared
Has this always been possible? (By always, of course, I mean these past
years.) Because this is the first time I've heard of a successful hand
transplant, or, actually, any hand transplant at all.

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kogus
I read that as "head transplant"...

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schtog
Wouldn't that be a body transplant?

