S111 Brain reorganization following the use of robotic hand prosthesis in four amputees

The amputation of a hand (as of any other body part) is followed by a cascade of plastic changes on the motor and somatosensory pathways; such changes are probably contributing to the Phantom limb syndrome, a distressing situation affecting the vast majority of amputees. Although many effort, a clear explanation of the phantom syndrome is still missing and it could be considered the result of multiple contributing mechanisms acting both at peripheral and central nervous system. The typical feature of cortical plastic reorganization following limb amputations is the invasion of the "deafferented" cortex by neighbouring areas in both the primary somatosensory and the motor cortices.

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