Students in the University of Mount Olive (UMO) Behavioral & Cognitive Neuroscience class recently had the opportunity to experience how the brain and body work together in day-to-day life. As part of their class project, students were organized into several groups and each group constructed a prosthetic hand.
The project enabled students to learned how the brain communicates with the rest of body by building their own neuroprosthetics. Students used their own nervous system to control the prosthetics.
“The wires connected to the arms of the students ‘hijack’ the electrical signals sent from their brains to their hands through axons, and transmit the signals to their prosthetic,” said Chair of the Psychology Department Dr. David Shields. “The students really enjoyed this experience and were surprised at how well the prosthetic limbs worked.”
