Sign in

Lucy Dowdall

@lucydowdall.bsky.social
239 followers 125 following 18 posts

Cognitive Neuroscience PhD Student 🧠 | Plasticity Lab, University of Cambridge 🦾 | sensory feedback, sensorimotor learning, and neurotech | she/her

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Lucy Dowdall
Plasticity Lab @plasticity-lab.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Can we use robotic augmentation limbs as flexibly as our natural limbs⁉️ 🧨 Our new study, just out in @currentbiology.bsky.social, tested this using the Third Thumb @daniclode.bsky.social: a wearable robotic extra thumb you control with your toes! www.cell.com/current-biol... ‼️‼️
12010
Reposted by Lucy Dowdall
Plasticity Lab @plasticity-lab.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Markerless tracking shouldn’t feel like a coding project! We released TrackStudio (arxiv.org/abs/2511.07624), a fully graphical, open-source toolkit for markerless human motion tracking. It enables use of current 2D/3D tools and video synchronisation without coding.
064
Reposted by Lucy Dowdall
Sam McDougle @actlab.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Happy to announce that my lab @ Yale Psychology (actcompthink.org) will be accepting PhD applications this year (for start in Fall '26)! Come for the fun experiments on human learning, memory, & skilled behavior, stay for the best 🍕 in the US. Please reach out if you have any questions!
actcompthink.org
Homepage of the Action, Computation, & Thinking (ACT) Lab, Yale department of psychology
411151
Lucy Dowdall @lucydowdall.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
Excited to see this collaborative work out! A representation of a robotic limb that’s both effector- and controller-independent? We take a deep dive into motor learning generalisation with the Third Thumb. Congrats @mariamolinasan.bsky.social! 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Motor Learning Outside the Body: Broad Skill Generalisation with an Extra Robotic Limb
Our ability to transfer motor skills across tools and contexts is what makes modern technology usable. The success of motor augmentation devices, such as supernumerary robotic limbs, hinges on users’ capacity for generalised motor performance. We trained participants over seven days to use an extra robotic thumb (Third Thumb, Dani Clode Design), worn on the right hand and controlled via the toes. We tested whether motor learning was confined to the specific tasks and body parts involved in controlling and interacting with the Third Thumb, or whether it could generalise beyond them. Participants showed broad skill generalisation across tasks, body postures, and even when either the Third Thumb or the controller was reassigned to a different body part, suggesting the development of abstract, body-independent motor representations. Training also reduced cognitive demands and increased the sense of agency over the device. However, participants still preferred using their biological hand over the Third Thumb when given the option, suggesting that factors beyond motor skill generalisation, cognitive effort, and embodiment must be addressed to support the real-world adoption of such technologies. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. UKRIM-BM-^Rs Frontier Research Guarantee, EP/X040372/1 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EP/W004062/1 Medical Research Council, MC\_uu\_00030/10
150
Reposted by Lucy Dowdall
Plasticity Lab @plasticity-lab.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Our PhD students @maggieszymanska.bsky.social and Julien Russ ready to present their posters today at #BRNet2025! Find them in the poster room at 2pm, talking about phantom limb pain and using EMG to control the Third Thumb 🧠
0134
Lucy Dowdall @lucydowdall.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Catching up with the community at UK Sensorimotor is always a highlight of the year! Thanks for having us @uksensorimotor25.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk !
010
Lucy Dowdall @lucydowdall.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Excited to share our new interdisciplinary work exploring the sensory representation of an artificial body part, combing datasets and methodologies to explore sensorimotor integration of the Third Thumb, a 2 DoF hand augmentation device (@daniclode.bsky.social) doi.org/10.1101/2025.06.16.658246
1111726
Reposted by Lucy Dowdall
Plasticity Lab @plasticity-lab.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Neurotech is rapidly evolving, but user-centred technologies can only succeed if their development actively involves the end user. We’ve published a basic roadmap for supporting inclusive design testing - highlighting key strategies, stakeholders, representation, and measurable outcomes rb.gy/ng1jus
042
Lucy Dowdall @lucydowdall.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
New essential reading for anybody working in sensory feedback!
010
Reposted by Lucy Dowdall
Plasticity Lab @plasticity-lab.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Now you’ve met the lab, come work with us! We’re hiring a Research Assistant to join the Plasticity lab 🦾 in early 2025 at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge. Find out more information here: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/49393/. Closing date 8th of January! 🧠
032
Reposted by Lucy Dowdall
Plasticity Lab @plasticity-lab.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
We’re thrilled to share our new research article, "Shaping the developing homunculus: the roles of deprivation and compensatory behaviour in sensory remapping on bioRxiv: rebrand.ly/qbz6nal with @dorothycowie.bsky.social
14319
Lucy Dowdall @lucydowdall.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Come meet our lab and find out about our work!
020