Madeline D. Newcomb

Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine

Papers

Total Citations

201

H-Index

About

Dr. Madeline D. Newcomb is a leading researcher in the fields of neuroprosthetics and sensorimotor integration, with a particular focus on how the brain perceives and controls artificial limbs. Her most influential work, "Illusory movement perception improves motor control for prosthetic hands" (2018, 201 citations), fundamentally challenged conventional approaches to prosthetic design by demonstrating that nonconscious kinesthetic feedback—specifically, the illusion of movement—can dramatically enhance a user's ability to learn and correct motor commands. This breakthrough revealed that the brain does not require direct sensory input from a limb to refine its control; rather, it can leverage perceptual illusions to close the feedback loop, making prosthetic hands feel more intuitive and responsive. Dr. Newcomb's contributions bridge cognitive neuroscience and engineering, offering a new framework for developing smarter, more adaptive prosthetic systems. Her work has been widely recognized for its potential to improve the quality of life for amputees, and she continues to explore how illusory perceptions can be harnessed to restore seamless, effortless movement in next-generation bionic devices.