Hunter Schone
@hunterschone.bsky.social
www.hunterschone.com Assistive technologies and neuroplasticity | NIH BRAIN Initiative postdoctoral fellow in the Collinger lab at the University of Pittsburgh | Prev: UCL and NIMHgov | 🏳️🌈
Can we use robotic augmentation limbs as flexibly as our natural limbs⁉️ 🧨 Our new study, just out in @currentbiology.bsky.social, tested this using the Third Thumb @daniclode.bsky.social: a wearable robotic extra thumb you control with your toes! www.cell.com/current-biol... ‼️‼️
🚨Job alert🚨 The lab has up to *3 postdoc openings* for comp systems neuroscientists interested in describing and manipulating neural population dynamics mediating behaviour This is part of a collaborative ARIA grant "4D precision control of cortical dynamics" euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/383909
3 Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Champalimaud Foundation (Fundação D. Anna de Sommer Champalimaud e Dr.
euraxess.ec.europa.eu
Come join us at University of Toronto. We're hiring a Professor of computational cognitive neuroscience. #neuroAI #compneuro jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
Professor - Computational Cognitive Neuroscience
Professor - Computational Cognitive Neuroscience
jobs.utoronto.ca
🦵We’re sure you’ve heard of phantom limbs - the sensation or pain felt in a limb that has been amputated. What if we told you that…. …the brain never forgets the missing limb?🧠
Stable cortical body maps before and after arm amputation - Nature Neuroscience
Longitudinal neuroimaging of participants with planned arm amputations shows that the cortical body map remains stable after amputation, with no evidence of hand or face reorganization, thus challengi...
nature.com
Longitudinal neuroimaging in three adults, followed before and up to 5 years after arm amputation, reveals that amputation does not trigger large-scale cortical reorganization @hunterschone.bsky.social @cibaker.bsky.social @plasticity-lab.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Stable cortical body maps before and after arm amputation - Nature Neuroscience
Longitudinal neuroimaging of participants with planned arm amputations shows that the cortical body map remains stable after amputation, with no evidence of hand or face reorganization, thus challengi...
nature.com
Phantom feelings in lost limbs present a puzzle for neuroscientists who were taught to believe that once a body part is amputated, another body part will creep into its spot on the brain’s map of the body. A new imaging study undermines that theory. https://scim.ag/45SInZQ
After an amputation, the brain’s map of the body is more stable than previously thought
Imaging study could inform future prosthetics and treatments for phantom limb pain
scim.ag
Preprint out -- using intramuscular microelectrode arrays to detect residual motoneuron activity in tetraplegic spinal cord injury, and then using that activity for control Credit to my other co-first authors Agnese Grison and Ciara Gibbs 1/n www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Multidimensional motoneuron control using intramuscular microelectrode arrays in tetraplegic spinal cord injury
Loss of hand function after spinal cord injury (SCI) significantly impairs independence and quality of life. Although residual muscle activity recorded on the skin can provide intuitive control signal...
medrxiv.org
"primary somatosensory cortex stays remarkably constant even years after arm amputation. The study refutes foundational knowledge in the field of neuroscience that losing a limb results in a drastic reorganization of this region, the authors say." www.nature.com/articles/d41...
The brain’s map of the body is surprisingly stable — even after a limb is lost
Study challenges the textbook idea that the brain region that processes body sensations reorganizes itself after limb amputation.
nature.com
Of course I stumble onto this paper right before I head to discuss post-injury remapping in my cog neuro lecture this morning www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🙃
Stable cortical body maps before and after arm amputation - Nature Neuroscience
Longitudinal neuroimaging of participants with planned arm amputations shows that the cortical body map remains stable after amputation, with no evidence of hand or face reorganization, thus challengi...
nature.com
Really delighted to announce that our paper is now out! We fMRI scanned patients both before amputation and after - allowing us to make direct comparisons. We found that the cortical maps are extremely stable, almost unchanged - even 5 years after amputation!
Hunter Schone@hunterschone.bsky.social · last yr.Now out in @natneuro.nature.com What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed? Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7 🧵1/18
Contrary to what many neuroscientists think: the brain holds a map of the body that remains unchanged even after a limb has been amputated: https://bit.ly/3UyFkRx @mrccbu.bsky.social @pittdeptofmed.bsky.social @plasticity-lab.bsky.social @hunterschone.bsky.social 🧪 #PhantomLimb #Research
“This neural configuration before amputation remains after the amputation. And it’s not ‘use it or lose it,’” says John W. Krakauer. By @avaskham.bsky.social #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/plasticity/a...
Adult human cortex does not reorganize after amputation
The results from a new longitudinal study contradict classic findings in monkeys but may not warrant a rewriting of the textbooks just yet.
thetransmitter.org
Hunter Schone@hunterschone.bsky.social · last yr.Now out in @natneuro.nature.com What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed? Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7 🧵1/18
This is an incredible study and such important work. It also aligns with what we are seeing in the complimentary situation after stoke- rather than losing the peripheral limb, losing the central map. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34172735/ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37940595/
Barrel cortex plasticity after photothrombotic stroke involves potentiating responses of pre-existing circuits but not functional remapping to new circuits - PubMed
Recovery after stroke is thought to be mediated by adaptive circuit plasticity, whereby surviving neurons assume the roles of those that died. However, definitive longitudinal evidence of neurons chan...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Another amazing piece of work by @hunterschone.bsky.social The only person I know that could have pulled off such a complicated project. Really proud to be a part of it!
Hunter Schone@hunterschone.bsky.social · last yr.Now out in @natneuro.nature.com What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed? Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7 🧵1/18
Loss of sensory input has long been used to study brain plasticity - here, we challenge the prevailing view of massive reorganization in a longitudinal study of amputees Massive effort from @hunterschone.bsky.social who was in the awesome NIH/UCL PhD program with @plasticity-lab.bsky.social
Hunter Schone@hunterschone.bsky.social · last yr.Now out in @natneuro.nature.com What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed? Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7 🧵1/18
Really amazing work that challenges some long-held beliefs about cortical plasticity. "We show adult sensory body maps are unaltered after amputation, suggesting deprivation-driven plasticity is even more marginal than argued by the strongest opponents of cortical reorganization."
Hunter Schone@hunterschone.bsky.social · last yr.Now out in @natneuro.nature.com What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed? Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7 🧵1/18
Super pleased to see this heroic effort finally in print!! Many thanks to Hunter, our amazing study participants, and everyone else who made this fantastic study come true.
Hunter Schone@hunterschone.bsky.social · last yr.Now out in @natneuro.nature.com What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed? Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7 🧵1/18
Now out in @natneuro.nature.com What happens to the brain’s body map when a body-part is removed? Scanning patients before and up to 5 yrs after arm amputation, we discovered the brain’s body map is strikingly preserved despite amputation www.nature.com/articles/s41593-025-02037-7 🧵1/18
$323 million worth of neuroscience funding has been cut from NIH according to a new analysis from @thetransmitter.bsky.social/ @claudia-lopez.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/funding/nih-...
NIH cuts quash $323 million for neuroscience research and training
“I am frightened for the state of the future of our field if this isn't reversed rapidly,” says Joshua Gordon, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and former director of the National…
thetransmitter.org
We had a great time at the @bcisociety.bsky.social meeting in Banff, Canada. We gathered almost all (@hunterschone.bsky.social?) the CBRG attendees (current and former) for the official photo. @jenpitt.bsky.social @giacomovalle.bsky.social @johndowney.bsky.social @miskarous.bsky.social
I have confirmation from several sources now that all T32s, many F30s and F31s, and most or all Center awards (P30, P50) have been terminated at Columbia. This is quite damaging to research and to individuals. This is pure terrorism and cannot be legal. But litigation will take time...
One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “Neural network retuning and neural predictors of learning success associated with cello training.” Explore the article here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... For more trending articles, visit ow.ly/Me2U50SkLRZ.
Most of what we know about health and disease centers on the male body. This 2016 NIH policy was a huge win for those of us that want the scientific body of knowledge to serve, well, all bodies.
The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 2y agoExclusive: NIH appears to archive policy requiring female animals in studies www.thetransmitter.org/policy/exclu...
So glad I had the privilege of being a part of this incredible life changing research
Child Vision Lab @UCL@childvisionlab.bsky.social · 2y agoThrilled to see this monumental work in @thelancet.bsky.social! A single subretinal injection led to staggering improvements in nearly blind children, while behavioural and EEG data from our lab reveal a dramatic boost in function and cortex activity. A major leap for vision restoration! t.ly/fvdQy
Very proud to be part of this important and exciting work, also featured in the Guardian: www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Doctors in London cure blindness in children with rare condition
Four children can now see shapes, find toys, recognise their parents’ faces and some can read and write
theguardian.com
Child Vision Lab @UCL@childvisionlab.bsky.social · 2y agoThrilled to see this monumental work in @thelancet.bsky.social! A single subretinal injection led to staggering improvements in nearly blind children, while behavioural and EEG data from our lab reveal a dramatic boost in function and cortex activity. A major leap for vision restoration! t.ly/fvdQy
WOMEN and FEMALE are red flag words. (Men, male are not on the list). Let that sink in.
Darby Saxbe@darbysaxbe.bsky.social · 2y ago🚨BREAKING. From a program officer at the National Science Foundation, a list of keywords that can cause a grant to be pulled. I will be sharing screenshots of these keywords along with a decision tree. Please share widely. This is a crisis for academic freedom & science.
