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Brain May Treat Wheelchair as Part of the Body
Date:3/6/2013

By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, March 6 (HealthDay News) -- The brains of disabled people adjust to a wheelchair and treat it as an extension of their body, essentially replacing limbs that don't function properly anymore, new research suggests.

The findings provide more insight into how the brain compensates when it uses tools like a wheelchair, or even something as simple as a hammer or toothbrush, said study lead author Mariella Pazzaglia, an assistant professor at the Sapienza University of Rome, in Italy.

In the future, Pazzaglia said, this kind of research could lead to ways to enhance the body in people who are physically impaired. "Bodily representations can be extended to include exoskeletons, prostheses, robots and virtual avatars," she said.

At issue is what scientists call "brain plasticity," which describes the brain's ability to learn and adjust, something people do quite often when young and continue to do as they get older.

"If we learn how to play a piano or drive somewhere, that's plasticity in action," said Dr. Alexander Dromerick, chief of rehabilitation medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Human brains also can compensate for bodily changes such as the loss of a limb by adjusting what's known as the internal body map. The new study sought to understand how the brains of disabled people change their body maps to include wheelchairs.

The researchers surveyed 55 people in wheelchairs with spinal cord injuries about their lives, and then analyzed their responses. The study authors determined that the participants treated wheelchairs as part of their bodies, not simply as extensions of their limbs.

The study also found that people who had more movement in their upper limbs could interact more with wheelchairs, and this improved their ability to incorporate them into their body images.

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