The project was more a novelty than a prototype, exploring futurist ideas surrounding body augmentation.

A team of neuroscientists working in The Plasticity Lab at University College London saw the Third Thumb on the news and immediately contacted Clode. They were studying how the human brain adapts to operate augmentative technology, and the Third Thumb was a perfect device to incorporate into their research.

"Body augmentation is a growing field aimed at extending our physical abilities, yet we lack a clear understanding of how our brains can adapt to it," explains Tamir Makin, head of the Plasticity Lab and lead author on the new research. "By studying people using Dani's cleverly-designed Third Thumb, we sought to answer key questions around whether the human brain can support an extra body part, and how the technology might impact our brain."

The researchers recruited 20 subjects who each spent five days training in the lab to use the Third Thumb. They were encouraged to take the device home with them each evening and try to use it for between two and six hours in total per day.

At the beginning and end of the study all participants were scanned using MRI to track brain activity while moving their fingers. A control group of ten participants were also recruited. They completed the same five day training protocol but used a static version of the Third Thumb.