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Raffa

@raffatucca.bsky.social

Raffa @raffatucca.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Huge thanks to Reach (www.reach.org.uk) and Limbo (limbbofoundation.co.uk), the incredible limb-difference community, and the amazing children and adults who participated in our study. Your support and stories are at the heart of this work!

reach.org.uk

Reach – New Possibilities

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Raffa @raffatucca.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Computational modelling reveals that global brain shifts in congenital limb differences arise from homeostatic plasticity—how the brain maintains balance by adapting to deprivation. This relatively understudied mechanism might explain why even distant regions get recruited after deprivation.

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Raffa @raffatucca.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Behaviour still matters… People with more diverse adaptations across different body parts had more distinctive brain remapping, compared to 2-handed controls, linking what you do to how your brain is organised. These links are especially strong in kids.

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Raffa @raffatucca.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Incredibly, the brain remapping was not just local! We saw global remapping across the primary somatosensory cortex (S1). Even regions as far away as the foot area were affected. This suggests deprivation can reshape the whole sensory map, not just the deprived hand area or the immediate neighbours.

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Raffa @raffatucca.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

When a hand is missing at birth, the brain adapts! In children and adults with a limb difference, other body parts "move into" the area of the brain originally meant for the hand. This includes the neighbouring face and arm, but also the feet! #Neuroplasticity #BrainScience

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Raffa @raffatucca.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Kids with congenital limb difference showed incredible versatility in how they use their bodies. While most people rely on hands, these kids creatively use feet, legs, or even their torsos! This "co-use complexity" was much higher in kids than in adults, highlighting a rich period of adaptation.

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Raffa @raffatucca.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Born without a hand, children face early sensory deprivation, but their behaviour evolves massively as they adapt to daily challenges as they grow. Our kids model explores how these behavioural changes might shape brain remapping, offering a unique lens into different plasticity mechanisms.

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Raffa @raffatucca.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

What happens to the brain's body map when a child is born without a hand? Does it just “rewire” based on missing inputs, or does behaviour shape these changes? We tackled this by studying kids (5-7) and adults with congenital limb differences using neuroimaging, modelling and behavioural methods.

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Raffa @raffatucca.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

We're thrilled to announce that our new research article, "Global remapping of the sensory homunculus emerges early in childhood development”, has just been published in Nature Communications (www.nature.com/articles/s41...) with @dorothycowie.bsky.social and Matej Hoffman.

nature.com

Global remapping of the sensory homunculus emerges early in childhood development - Nature Communications

Children born without a hand show early, widespread changes in brain maps, with body parts shifting across the homunculus. Adaptive behaviours explain individual differences but cannot override this e...

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Plasticity Lab @plasticity-lab.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

I’m Tamar Makin, leader of the Plasticity Lab @CBU. As an intro to Bluesky, I asked my team to choose their favourite lab paper. My pick sums up a decade of the lab’s work: John Krakauer @JHU & I argue that one brain area can’t simply take over another, challenging remapping claims: rb.gy/n4dr03

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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

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Maggie Szymanska @maggieszymanska.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Had a blast working on this amazing project and the pre-print is now out 🎉! Interested in sensory remapping? We tested congenital limb difference children and adults to investigate how their brains differ and what role compensatory behaviour in childhood has on remapping 🧠 Read more in the thread!

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