Researchers Have Developed a "Bionic Arm

Essay

Researchers have developed a "bionic arm." This technology is possible primarily because of two facts of amputation. First, the motor cortex still sends out control signals even if certain voluntary muscles are no longer there to innervate. Second, when doctors amputate a limb, they do not remove all the nerves that once carried signals to the muscles in that limb. If those nerve endings can be redirected to a working muscle group, and the person thinks "grab the handle and turn," then the brain will send out corresponding signals to the nerves and communicate with the new limb. Based on your knowledge of voluntary motor tasks, explain how this technology is possible.