Brain and nervus impairment is most often assort with loss of control over areas associated with the scathe – paraplegics , for example , may fall behind controller over their legs following aspinal cord hurt . However , what if that harm did n’t make the arm stop go , but rather gave it a brain of its own ? This unknown phenomenon has become love as alien hand syndrome .
foreign hand syndrome ( AHS ) , also known as anarchic paw or Dr. Strangelove syndrome , is principally tie in with lesions or injuries to the corpus callosum , the bundle of nerve fibre connecting the brain’stwo hemispheres . The condition rise up when the touch on cerebral hemisphere apparently " miss ascendence " over the hand ’s voluntary movements , leading to involuntary action that can sometimes be bizarre or contradictory to the person ’s intention . The underlying mechanism has still not been full identify , but patients with it often parade damage in the brain that disconnects the parietal cerebral mantle from other cortical areas .
It is an extremely rarified condition , with only a limited number of reported cases . Its accurate prevalence remain ill-defined , but estimate hint that it occurs in around0.006 percentof stroking patients with callosal lesion . However , AHS can also arise from other reason , including brain tumour , wit surgeries , infection , and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer ’s and Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease .
In people with AHS , it often is n’t a bare case of the limb moving or spasming , but the limb can really seem like it has a mind of its own . For example , a deal could be stroking the face , perform actions that look fully designed but are not being voluntarily controlled by the patient .
Anothercase reportfrom 2014 described a 77 - twelvemonth - old womanhood with the same phenomenon while watching TV , when her deal suddenly started stroking her face and hair for seemingly no reasonableness . She could not restrain the hired man with her other , and became incredibly frightened . This lasted for 30 minute before normal function slowly descend back and she was diagnose with a shot later , suggesting the AHS may have actually indicate a severe case in the wit .
Currenttreatmentsfor the condition are very limited , with some cases simply function away on their own , while others require extended rehabilitation and cognitive behavioural therapy .
It ’s knockout to imagine how terrific it would be to suddenly lose control of a arm , making it a specially troubling condition , especially in elderly people . If someone ever exhibits symptom like to AHS , medical attention should be immediately sought as it could be declarative of a serious brain event .
The contentedness of this clause is not intended to be a fill-in for professional aesculapian advice , diagnosing , or treatment . Always seek the advice of restricted wellness supplier with question you may have regarding aesculapian conditions .
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