Cyborg limbs nears reality as humans with robot thumb ‘can’t tell fingers apart’

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Giving humans cyborg limbs could cause brain damage, British scientists have warned.

A world-first study saw volunteers control a robotic third thumb controlled by their big toes.

The pioneering battery-powered design allows you to text faster, perform card tricks and play impossible guitar chords.

But scans suggested wearers adapted to it so naturally that it may weaken our brains' ability to tell our fingers apart.

The study said: "Humans have long been fascinated by the opportunities afforded through augmentation.

"This vision not only depends on technological innovations but also critically relies on our brain’s ability to learn, adapt, and interface with augmentation devices.

"Here, we investigated whether successful motor augmentation with an extra robotic thumb can be achieved and what its implications are on the neural representation and function of the biological hand."

The researchers trained people to use the 'third thumb' over five days before testing how well they adapted with tasks and brain scans.

While the study participants were able to improve their control of the thumb even when blindfolded, "Third Thumb usage weakened natural kinematic synergies of the biological hand.

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"Furthermore, brain decoding revealed a mild collapse of the augmented hand’s motor representation after training, even while the Third Thumb was not worn.

"Together, our findings demonstrate that motor augmentation can be readily achieved, with potential for flexible use, reduced cognitive reliance, and increased sense of embodiment.

"Yet, augmentation may incur changes to the biological hand representation. Such neurocognitive consequences are crucial for successful implementation of future augmentation technologies."

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The all-female research team believes their findings could change the way people view prosthetics and be a first step towards futuristic cyborg-like body augmentation.

Dani Clode began her 'Third Thumb Project' as part of an award-winning graduate project at the Royal College of Art in 2017.

The London designer co-wrote the University College London (UCL) Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience study.

Professor Tamar Makin, the lead author of the study, said: "Evolution hasn't prepared us to use an extra body part, and we have found that to extend our abilities in new and unexpected ways, the brain will need to adapt the representation of the biological body.

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"Body augmentation is a growing field aimed at extending our physical abilities, yet we lack a clear understanding of how our brains can adapt to it.

"By studying people using Dani's cleverly-designed Third Thumb, we sought to answer key questions around whether the human brain can support an extra body part, and how the technology might impact our brain."

Ms Clode said: "Our study shows that people can quickly learn to control an augmentation device and use it for their benefit, without overthinking.

"We saw that while using the Third Thumb, people changed their natural hand movements, and they also reported that the robotic thumb felt like part of their own body."

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