Humans with "tweezer-like" bionic hand tools: neuroscientists' new study may be the beginning of real-life Cyperpunk

A new study by neuroscientists shows that humans can evolve into cyborgs with "tweezer-like" bionic hand tools. That is, the next step in human evolution may be the further integration of technology with flesh and bone.

However,, according the study, this technology does not mimic human features like modern prostheses. Neuroscientists have found that people actually feel more connected to bionic instruments that look like tweezers than to transplants that resemble human hands, The Sun reports.

Using virtual reality (VR), the researchers tested whether people could feel that the claw of a pair of tweezers was part of their body.

Participants could successfully embody a "bionic tool" and a prosthetic hand with equal degrees. However, people were faster and more accurate in virtually performing tasks with the tweezers than when they used a human hand.

"In order for our biology to merge seamlessly with the tools, we need to feel that the tools are part of our body. Our findings show that people can perceive tweezers as an integral part of their bodies," Ottavia Maddaluno, a neuroscientist at the Sapienza University of Rome and first author of the study, said.

The researchers believe that participants identified their hands with the tweezers more because of their simplicity, "In terms of the pinching task, the tweezers are functionally similar to the human hand, but simpler and also easier computationally for the brain," Maddaluno added.

The next step is to study whether these bionic tools can be implemented in patients who have lost limbs.

"We also want to investigate the plastic changes that this type of bionic tool can cause in the brain of both healthy participants and people with amputated limbs," Ottavia said.

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