One of the main reasons why amputees report poor satisfaction with prostheses is their excessive weight perceived,¹ despite the fact that they typically weigh less than half of the natural limb.² Weight perception can be a subjective percept that is influenced by cognitive processes.3, 4, 5 Even though recent developments in prosthetics have shown that sensory feedback restoration positively influences cognitive aspects (as embodiment of the device and cognitive load),^6,7 the potential benefits on prosthesis heaviness perception have never been investigated. In this study, we explored this matter using intraneural sensory feedback in a transfemoral (above-knee) amputee. We hypothesized that providing neural feedback would affect the integration of the prosthesis in the amputee’s body schema, hence influencing the prosthesis weight perception. The results indicate that, after performing an over-ground walking task, the sensory feedback allowed a 23% decrease in prosthesis heaviness perception compared to the no feedback condition. Our hypothesis was confirmed by a significant increase in the embodiment of the prosthesis (by 60.5%) and confidence (by 36%) while walking with the sensory feedback. A subsequent dual task (i.e., walking while spelling backward) showed that the sensory feedback abolished the reduction of walking speed and accuracy observed during the no-feedback condition and normally seen with increased mental workload, suggesting a cognitive integration of the system. These results show the importance of providing close-to-natural sensations from the missing limb to allow a good integration of the prostheses and increase the satisfaction of their users.

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中文翻译：

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通过感觉反馈促进神经实施减轻感知假体重量

截肢者报告对假肢不满意的主要原因之一是他们感知到的体重过重，¹尽管事实上他们的重量通常不到自然肢体的一半。²体重感知可能是受认知过程影响的主观感知。3, 4, 5 尽管假肢的最新发展表明，感觉反馈恢复对认知方面有积极影响（作为设备和认知负荷的体现），^{6 , 7}从未研究过对假体重量感知的潜在益处。在这项研究中，我们使用经股骨（膝盖以上）截肢者的神经内感觉反馈来探索这个问题。我们假设提供神经反馈会影响假肢在截肢者身体模式中的整合，从而影响假肢重量感知。结果表明，在执行地上行走任务后，与无反馈条件相比，感觉反馈允许假体重量感知减少 23%。我们的假设得到证实，假肢的实施（60.5%）和信心（36%）在感觉反馈下行走时显着增加。随后的双重任务（即，向后拼写时走路）表明，感觉反馈消除了在无反馈条件下观察到的步行速度和准确性的降低，并且通常随着心理工作量的增加而增加，这表明系统的认知整合。这些结果表明，从缺失的肢体中提供接近自然的感觉对于实现假肢的良好整合并提高用户满意度的重要性。

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