A Scientist's Pink Cast Leads To Discovery About How The Brain Responds To Disability
A neurologist who wanted to know how the brain changes in response to a physical disability put his arm in a pink cast for two weeks to find out.
by Jon Hamilton
Jun 18, 2020
3 minutes
A neurologist who encased his healthy right arm in a pink fiberglass cast for two weeks has shown how quickly the brain can change after an injury or illness.
Daily scans of Dr. Nico Dosenbach's brain showed that circuits controlling his immobilized arm disconnected from the body's motor system within 48 hours.
But during the same period, his brain began to produce new signals seemingly meant to keep those circuits intact and ready to quickly reconnect with the unused limb.
Dosenbach, an assistant
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