This means sensors in a prosthetic limb could, in theory, stimulate the reinnervated skin to cause realistic sensations.

ECONOMIST: Rewiring nerves

So when the reinnervated skin (on the chest or shoulder, perhaps) is touched, it registers to the patient as a sensation in the missing limb.

ECONOMIST: Rewiring nerves

Several patients underwent surgery to reroute their motor nerves to different muscles, but in the process the sensory nerves reinnervated themselves too, attaching themselves to the skin receptors.

ECONOMIST: Rewiring nerves