Researchers Trick People to Believe Prosthetic Fingers are Real Fingers

In a finding that could lead to development of new treatments for treating schizophrenics and stroke victims, researchers at Neuroscience Research Australia revealed that they were able to trick people into believing that prosthetic fingers were their real fingers. The researchers conducted a number of experiments on a group of people who were made to think that there were holding their right hand index finger between their right hand index finger and thumb inside an enclosed box when in reality they were holding a plastic and silicone fake finger than was attached to their real finger.

“It’s told us the minimal information necessary to induce this sensation of owning parts of the body. The body’s got to have a model or representation of (itself) before it can accurately hold a posture or make a movement. What this study says, for the first time, is that just one class of receptors in your muscles is sufficient to give you this information”, co-author of the study, Simon Gandevia said.

The study has been published in the Journal of Physiology

Source-Medindia