Dr Tamar Makin interviewed by the Independent about 'mind blowing' discovery

Dr Tamar Makin of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience was interviewed by the Independent about her study of people born with one hand, which suggests that neuroscience may have misunderstood the way the brain is organised.

The research involved an international team of researchers who used an MRI scanner to monitor the brains of those born with one hand as they carried out everyday tasks. The research found that an area of the brain associated with the missing hand was active when other parts of the body were used, such as foot or mouth. This was found to be the case when other body parts were used to carry out the same tasks as the second hand in those with both.

Dr Makin said: “If true, this means we’ve been misinterpreting brain organisation based on body part, rather than based on function. It’s kind of mind blowing for me to think we could have been getting this wrong for so long. The implications, if this interpretation is correct, are massive.” - Independent

The full research findings can be found in the Journal of Current Biology

The full Independent article ‘Mind-blowing discovery could revolutionise our understanding of how brain works’