When I first read the title of this problem, I wasn't sure if it was referring to a physical human ailment or was a fancy colloquialism. Apparently, it is the former. It is when one's hand moves of its own volition; it is a movement completely independent of the sufferer's thoughts or controls. They often say it feels like their hand is a foreign body. Specific problems in the brain give rise to this phenomenon, such as a lesion on the corpus callosum or other brain tumors or following a traumatic brain injury. The movement can be as simple as grasping for objects or more frightening as thrashing at clothes.
You can read more about this syndrome here:
Medicinenet: http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12655
HowStuffWorks: http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/unexplained-phenomena/alien-hand.htm
Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove suffered from Alien Hand Syndrome. Who knew?
No comments:
Post a Comment