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How do our brains adapt to control an extra body part?

cam.ac.uk

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Re: How do our brains adapt to control an extra body part?

#51

Post by hnbad »

m463 wrote: post #45
Taniwha wrote: post #29

I broke my Achilles tendon - had to have a FULL reconstruction - they took a tendon that used to help waggle my big toe (the muscle is in my leg) wrapped around my heel and back up my leg and rebuilt my achilles around that - now I have a muscle that used to wiggle my toe than moves my entire foot. How hard was it to relearn? at first I'd try to move my toe and something else would move, it felt weird - but doctor's…

When I was young, my first real experience with this was seeing a black and white spiral optical illusion in a museum. I stared at it for a bit, and then my brain adjusted and when I looked away, it affected what I looked at. I think my realization was that my brain didn't just do simple things, it did complex in many dimensions to adapt and fix things. The same thing goes with your foot, and it goes way deeper than…

The brain seems to do 90% error correction. Once you learn how human vision actually works it seems miraculous that it works at all.

Re: How do our brains adapt to control an extra body part?

#52

Post by Taniwha »

Taniwha wrote: post #29

I broke my Achilles tendon - had to have a FULL reconstruction - they took a tendon that used to help waggle my big toe (the muscle is in my leg) wrapped around my heel and back up my leg and rebuilt my achilles around that - now I have a muscle that used to wiggle my toe than moves my entire foot. How hard was it to relearn? at first I'd try to move my toe and something else would move, it felt weird - but doctor's…

BTW - if you ever find yourself in a situation like this - do the physio work, own doing it, no one's going to tell you to do it more than you, and a good physio will give you a plan to follow - in my case having access to a hot physio pool was the big thing, an hour a day every day effectively I crawled in and eventually walked away to the gym

Re: How do our brains adapt to control an extra body part?

#53

Post by smokel »

I once saw a documentary on a haptic compass, built from some rumble packs. It allowed people to improve their way-finding skills, and if I recall correctly, people accustomed to the idea of having this extra sense after about a week or so.

I can’t easily find the original research (somewhere in the 1990s), but several hackers and artists have rebuilt or rediscovered the idea.

See for example https://blinry.org/compass-belt/

Re: How do our brains adapt to control an extra body part?

#54

Post by hnbad »

koolala wrote: post #42

I started wearing a bath robe belt as a tail and my brain quickly starts telling me I am wearing it when I am not. I also had a phantom watch ⌚ on for a week after losing it.

Did HN start allowing emojis or did that one slip through the cracks because it pre-dates the inclusion of Japanese emojis?

Re: How do our brains adapt to control an extra body part?

#55

Post by RobotToaster »

saulrh wrote: post #37
CobrastanJorji wrote: post #9

There's this thing called the "curb-cut effect," where you make a change in order to accommodate people with a specific disability, and it turns out that the change is way more broadly useful than you anticipated. It's named after the ramps at intersections that were mandated by the ADA for folks in wheelchairs, but they turned out to be really good ideas in general and helped folks with strollers, on bicycles, and m…

This is absolutely the case - in software, accessibility features are in many cases identical to power user and engineering quality features. Color-theme support is necessary functionality for color vision deficiency modes, labels and tags on UI elements enable screen-readers just as much as they enable automated testing suites, configurable keybindings make it easier to get your app working with assistive input devi…

The opposite, dark patterns, are an accessibility nightmare.

Re: How do our brains adapt to control an extra body part?

#56

Post by cwillu »

Taniwha wrote: post #52
Taniwha wrote: post #29

I broke my Achilles tendon - had to have a FULL reconstruction - they took a tendon that used to help waggle my big toe (the muscle is in my leg) wrapped around my heel and back up my leg and rebuilt my achilles around that - now I have a muscle that used to wiggle my toe than moves my entire foot. How hard was it to relearn? at first I'd try to move my toe and something else would move, it felt weird - but doctor's…

BTW - if you ever find yourself in a situation like this - do the physio work, own doing it, no one's going to tell you to do it more than you, and a good physio will give you a plan to follow - in my case having access to a hot physio pool was the big thing, an hour a day every day effectively I crawled in and eventually walked away to the gym

I had surgery to repair a shattered wrist; after the cast came off, the surgeon said he'd follow up in 3 months to start physio, but in the mean time as much as it hurts, I can't break it by stretching.

So I spent every waking moment looking for motions that I used to be able to do but which hurt when I started to do them, and slowly working those motions despite the pain.

At the followup to start physio, the surgeon did a quick range of motion check. His jaw literally dropped when I demonstrated that I had recovered 95% range of motion without pain, full flexibility. “You… don't have to come back.”

Re: How do our brains adapt to control an extra body part?

#57

Post by PartiallyTyped »

briansm wrote: post #41
teeray wrote: post #24

I wonder if they don't even need to be like traditional body parts like thumbs. Perhaps like octopus tentacles with claws on the end...

I'm wondering if you could get so used to it over time you would develop a 'ghost limb' syndrome, i.e. some discomfort/itching/confusion when the appendage is taken off.

I think you mean ‘phantom limb’.

Re: How do our brains adapt to control an extra body part?

#58

Post by koolala »

hnbad wrote: post #54
koolala wrote: post #42

I started wearing a bath robe belt as a tail and my brain quickly starts telling me I am wearing it when I am not. I also had a phantom watch ⌚ on for a week after losing it.

Did HN start allowing emojis or did that one slip through the cracks because it pre-dates the inclusion of Japanese emojis?

I can't believe this place bans cleverness and Unicode. Oh wait this is a startup farm

Re: How do our brains adapt to control an extra body part?

#59

Post by technothrasher »

Taniwha wrote: post #52
Taniwha wrote: post #29

I broke my Achilles tendon - had to have a FULL reconstruction - they took a tendon that used to help waggle my big toe (the muscle is in my leg) wrapped around my heel and back up my leg and rebuilt my achilles around that - now I have a muscle that used to wiggle my toe than moves my entire foot. How hard was it to relearn? at first I'd try to move my toe and something else would move, it felt weird - but doctor's…

BTW - if you ever find yourself in a situation like this - do the physio work, own doing it, no one's going to tell you to do it more than you, and a good physio will give you a plan to follow - in my case having access to a hot physio pool was the big thing, an hour a day every day effectively I crawled in and eventually walked away to the gym

When I went through PT a while ago for a shoulder injury, it became pretty clear that the sessions with the professional were only about 10% of the work. It's all on you to do the large majority of the work between sessions.

Re: How do our brains adapt to control an extra body part?

#60

Post by fhe »

Taniwha wrote: post #29

I broke my Achilles tendon - had to have a FULL reconstruction - they took a tendon that used to help waggle my big toe (the muscle is in my leg) wrapped around my heel and back up my leg and rebuilt my achilles around that - now I have a muscle that used to wiggle my toe than moves my entire foot. How hard was it to relearn? at first I'd try to move my toe and something else would move, it felt weird - but doctor's…

I am amazed at whoever first thought of doing a reconstruction like that...what was the inspiration? what evidence and confidence did they have that it was going to work?
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