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Lucy Dowdall

@lucydowdall.bsky.social

Cognitive Neuroscience PhD Student 🧠 | Plasticity Lab, University of Cambridge 🦾 | sensory feedback, sensorimotor learning, and neurotech | she/her

18 Posts231 Follower125 Folgt
Lucy Dowdall@lucydowdall.bsky.social · last yr.

Excited to see this collaborative work out! A representation of a robotic limb that’s both effector- and controller-independent? We take a deep dive into motor learning generalisation with the Third Thumb. Congrats @mariamolinasan.bsky.social! 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Motor Learning Outside the Body: Broad Skill Generalisation with an Extra Robotic Limb

Our ability to transfer motor skills across tools and contexts is what makes modern technology usable. The success of motor augmentation devices, such as supernumerary robotic limbs, hinges on users’ capacity for generalised motor performance. We trained participants over seven days to use an extra robotic thumb (Third Thumb, Dani Clode Design), worn on the right hand and controlled via the toes. We tested whether motor learning was confined to the specific tasks and body parts involved in controlling and interacting with the Third Thumb, or whether it could generalise beyond them. Participants showed broad skill generalisation across tasks, body postures, and even when either the Third Thumb or the controller was reassigned to a different body part, suggesting the development of abstract, body-independent motor representations. Training also reduced cognitive demands and increased the sense of agency over the device. However, participants still preferred using their biological hand over the Third Thumb when given the option, suggesting that factors beyond motor skill generalisation, cognitive effort, and embodiment must be addressed to support the real-world adoption of such technologies. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. UKRIM-BM-^Rs Frontier Research Guarantee, EP/X040372/1 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EP/W004062/1 Medical Research Council, MC\_uu\_00030/10

biorxiv.org

Maria Molina-Sanchez@mariamolinasan.bsky.social · last yr.

Can humans use artificial limbs for body augmentation as flexibly as their own hands? 🚨 Our new interdisciplinary study put this question to the test with the Third Thumb (@daniclode.bsky.social), a robotic extra digit you control with your toes! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵1/10

Plasticity Lab@plasticity-lab.bsky.social · 2y ago

Neurotech is rapidly evolving, but user-centred technologies can only succeed if their development actively involves the end user. We’ve published a basic roadmap for supporting inclusive design testing - highlighting key strategies, stakeholders, representation, and measurable outcomes rb.gy/ng1jus

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