Human-Prosthetic Interaction: Brain & Technology After Lower-Limb Loss

This study investigates how the brain adapts to using a prosthetic leg after below-knee amputation, using brain imaging and technology to understand the human-prosthetic relationship. Amputation profoundly reorganizes the brain's body map, and how well someone integrates their prosthesis into their sense of self and movement may predict how successfully they use it. By understanding these brain-technology interactions, researchers hope to design better prosthetics and rehabilitation programs. Eligible participants are adults aged 18 to 65 with a unilateral below-knee amputation, in good general health, who are high-functioning prosthetic users (Medicare Functional Classification Level K3 or K4 — capable of active walking and higher-level activities). Those with neurological diseases, upper limb or bilateral amputations, bone-anchored implants, metal implants, or diabetes are excluded. Participants perform movement tasks while brain activity is recorded, both with and without their prosthesis. Millions of people live with lower limb amputations, and prosthetic technology has advanced dramatically — yet rehabilitation outcomes remain highly variable. Understanding the neuroscience of prosthetic integration could unlock new rehabilitation strategies, prosthetic control interfaces, and sensory feedback systems that help amputees move more naturally and confidently, transforming quality of life after limb loss.