The potential ability of the human brain to represent an artificial limb as a body part (embodiment) has been inspiring engineers, clinicians, and scientists as a means to optimise human–machine interfaces. Using functional MRI (fMRI), we studied whether neural embodiment actually occurs in prosthesis users’ occipitotemporal cortex (OTC). Compared with controls, different prostheses types were visually represented more similarly to each other, relative to hands and tools, indicating the emergence of a dissociated prosthesis categorisation. Greater daily life prosthesis usage correlated positively with greater prosthesis categorisation. Moreover, when comparing prosthesis users’ representation of their own prosthesis to controls’ representation of a similar looking prosthesis, prosthesis users represented their own prosthesis more dissimilarly to hands, challenging current views of visual prosthesis embodiment. Our results reveal a use-dependent neural correlate for wearable technology adoption, demonstrating adaptive use–related plasticity within the OTC. Because these neural correlates were independent of the prostheses’ appearance and control, our findings offer new opportunities for prosthesis design by lifting restrictions imposed by the embodiment theory for artificial limbs.

人脑将假肢表示为身体一部分（具体化）的潜在能力一直激励着工程师、临床医生和科学家作为优化人机界面的手段。使用功能性磁共振成像 (fMRI)，我们研究了假肢使用者的枕颞皮质 (OTC) 中是否确实存在神经体现。与对照组相比，不同的假肢类型在视觉上彼此更加相似，相对于手和工具，这表明出现了分离的假肢分类。日常生活中更多的假肢使用与更多的假肢分类呈正相关。此外，当将假肢用户对自己假肢的表示与对照组对外观相似的假肢的表示进行比较时，假肢用户表示自己的假肢与手更加不同，这挑战了当前对视觉假肢实施例的看法。我们的结果揭示了可穿戴技术采用的依赖于使用的神经关联，证明了 OTC 内与使用相关的适应性可塑性。由于这些神经相关因素独立于假肢的外观和控制，因此我们的研究结果通过解除假肢实施理论施加的限制，为假肢设计提供了新的机会。