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.

人脑将人造肢体作为身体部位（实施例）的潜在能力正在激发工程师，临床医生和科学家作为优化人机界面的一种手段。使用功能性MRI（fMRI），我们研究了神经假体是否真正出现在假体使用者的枕颞皮质（OTC）中。与对照相比，相对于手和工具，不同类型的假体在视觉上彼此更相似，这表明出现了分离的假体分类。更大的日常生活假体使用量与更大的假体分类正相关。此外，在比较假肢使用者对自己假肢的表示与对照对假肢外观相似的表示时，假肢使用者所代表的自己的假肢与手更不一样，从而挑战了当前的视觉假肢实施例视图。我们的研究结果揭示了可穿戴技术采用的使用相关的神经相关性，表明了OTC内与使用相关的可塑性。因为这些神经相关因素与假体的外观和控制无关，所以我们的发现通过解除人工肢体的实施理论施加的限制，为假体设计提供了新的机会。