Hand transplant shows lost limbs are never forgotten - health - 09 October 2008 - New Scientist
10/10/08 9:52 AM
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17:36 09 October 2008
NewScientist.com news service
Ewen Callaway
Decades after David Savage lost his right hand in a machine
press accident, the 57-year old has received a hand transplant
and recovered some feeling, despite spending 35 years with a
prosthetic hook.
Now a brain imaging study explains why. When gently poked in
the palm by researchers, Savage activated roughly the same
brain region as normal test subjects. The area, called the
sensory cortex, maintains a physical map of the body with
different portions registering sensations in the face, arms and
other body parts.
After losing a hand, the brain slowly cedes real estate in this
region to the face, says Scott Frey, a cognitive neuroscientist at
the University of Oregon in Eugene. But Savage's transplanted
hand quickly commandeered this area back.
"The brain may be much more capable than we thought of at
least getting back some organisation in these maps, even after
being deprived after a very long time," Frey says.
His team tested Savage in a functional-MRI brain scanner four
months after he became the third American to successfully
receive a grafted hand.
Enlarge image
David Savage received a hand transplant after
decades as an amputee; now his new hand has
regained some feeling (Image: Jewish
Hospital/Kleinert Kutz/University of Louisville. )
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When the researchers stroked a coarse sponge across his right
palm, Savage's sensory cortex lit up in the same spot as four
other men.
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Frey's team isn't sure how Savage's brain managed to re-map
the transplanted hand long after it had stopped receiving any
signal from his original hand. One possibility is that Savage's
brain never really lost the connection to his right hand, instead
his brain merely dialled down the neurons that map it.
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Angela Sirigu, a neuroscientist at the Institute of Cognitive
Neuroscience in Lyon, France says this reorganisation happens
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Her team recently tested a hand transplant patient at two time
points. "Just after the transplantation there was competition
between the face representation and the hand," she says.
"Three months later, this competition disappeared."
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Understanding this process could help develop a next generation
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connect prostheses to nerves that control limb movement, and
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sending sensory information from the prosthetic to the brain
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would make replacement limbs even more useful.
Journal reference: Current Biology (DOI:
10.1016/j.cub.2008.08.051)
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http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14905-hand-transplant-shows-…s-are-never-forgotten.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=news8_head_dn14905
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Hand transplant shows lost limbs are never forgotten - health - 09 October 2008 - New Scientist
10/10/08 9:52 AM
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There are 4 comments on 1 page
Amazing.
Back to Article »
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By Kalin Saast
Fri Oct 10 02:08:52 BST 2008
I wouldn't have thought that the brain would just switch off that particular area that controls feelings when
losing a limb etc. Quite a few amputees have reported still like their missing limbs are still there. The
doctors who reattached this mans hand should get a pat on the back, it's a really neat and tidy job. It would
be nice in the future if it was a simple procedure reattaching arms and legs, like mechano lol. Scientists
really need to work on better immunosuppressive drugs that have minimal side effects, instead of the
massive list of ones that are currently experianced.
REPORT | REPLY
Amazing.
By Dann
Fri Oct 10 03:01:47 BST 2008
"The doctors who reattached this mans hand should get a pat on the back"
They didn't reattach his own hand (unless they froze it for 35 years!). They attached some dead
guy's hand - which must be a bit creepy for the recipient. You wouldn't be consciously aware that a
transplanted internal organ was even there, whereas you look at, use and feel a transplanted hand
all the time.
Of course if the donor was a criminal with a police record, and you committed a crime using your
new hand, it could cause a few headaches for the investigating officers. Fingerprint evidence might
suggest that a dead guy did it!
REPORT | REPLY
Amazing.
By Windy
Fri Oct 10 06:58:23 BST 2008
Well, in fact, even though the limb itself came from someone who died, it's not creepy at all
to me because what this proves is that it is THE BRAIN that controls your hand... Your limbs
are useless, they are nothing without your brain.
So, now, it's HIS BRAIN that controls his new hand. So I think it's just wonderful ... If I were
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14905-hand-transplant-shows-…s-are-never-forgotten.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=news8_head_dn14905
Page 2 of 3
Hand transplant shows lost limbs are never forgotten - health - 09 October 2008 - New Scientist
10/10/08 9:52 AM
this guy and I had lost my hand 35 years ago, and now I actually had use of a hand that sort
of works ... WOW!
He must SOOOOO happy! It will improve his quality of life so incredibly.
All the more reason for all of us to sign donor cards and inform our families that we would be
happy if our bodies could be used to improve the lives of others.
REPORT | REPLY
Amazing.
By Reeler
Fri Oct 10 10:43:19 BST 2008
"The doctors who reattached this mans hand should get a pat on the back"
How do you know they didnt pat each other with the amputated hand before they reattached it. Thats what I would have done
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