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About

Hannah J. Block is a leading researcher in the neuroscience of motor learning, with a focus on how the brain integrates sensory feedback—particularly vision and proprioception—to refine movement. Her work has fundamentally advanced our understanding of somatosensory plasticity, demonstrating that motor skill acquisition is not purely a motor process but involves profound changes in how we perceive our own limbs. In her highly cited 2020 study (50 citations), Block established a critical link between trial-and-error motor adaptation and shifts in proprioception, revealing that learning new movement patterns actively reshapes sensory processing. Her 2019 paper (32 citations) further showed that force field adaptation increases the brain’s reliance on vision over proprioception, highlighting a dynamic reweighting of sensory cues during learning. Block has also employed cutting-edge techniques like theta burst stimulation to dissect the distinct roles of the somatosensory cortex and cerebellum in these proprioceptive changes (2021, 23 citations). By bridging motor skill learning and multisensory integration, Block’s research has profound implications for rehabilitation after stroke or injury, where retraining sensory perception is as crucial as motor practice. Her work is essential reading for anyone studying the neural basis of movement and perception.