Curious case of Alien Hand Syndrome

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busydude

busydude

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Feb 5, 2010
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Alien Hand Syndrome sees woman attacked by her own hand

By Dr Michael Mosley BBC Four's The Brain: A Secret History
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An operation to control her epilepsy left Karen Byrne with no control of her left hand

Imagine being attacked by one of your own hands, which repeatedly tries to slap and punch you. Or you go into a shop and when you try to turn right, one of your legs decides it wants to go left, leaving you walking round in circles.

It started after Karen had surgery at 27 to control her epilepsy, which had dominated her life since she was 10.
Surgery to cure epilepsy usually involves identifying and then cutting out a small section of the brain, where the abnormal electrical signals originate.
When this does not work, or when the damaged area cannot be identified, patients may be offered something more radical. In Karen's case her surgeon cut her corpus callosum, a band of nervous fibres which keeps the two halves of the brain in constant contact.

Cutting the corpus callosum cured Karen's epilepsy, but left her with a completely different problem.
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Out of control: Karen had emerged from the operation with a left hand that was out of control.
"I'd light a cigarette, balance it on an ashtray, and then my left hand would reach forward and stub it out. It would take things out of my handbag and I wouldn't realise so I would walk away. I lost a lot of things before I realised what was going on."
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Karen said the condition had been brought under control with medication
Karen's problem was caused by a power struggle going on inside her head. A normal brain consists of two hemispheres which communicate with each other via the corpus callosum.
The left hemisphere, which controls the right arm and leg, tends to be where language skills reside. The right hemisphere, which controls the left arm and leg, is largely responsible for spatial awareness and recognising patterns.
Usually the more analytical left hemisphere dominates, having the final say in the actions we perform.
The discovery of hemispherical dominance has its roots in the 1940s, when surgeons first decided to treat epilepsy by cutting the corpus callosum. After they had recovered, the patients appeared normal. But in psychology circles they became legends.
That is because these patients would, in time, reveal something that to me is truly astonishing - the two halves of our brains each contain a kind of separate consciousness. Each hemisphere is capable of its own independent will.
Click to expand...

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amdhunter

amdhunter

Lifer
May 19, 2003
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We need a video. Edit: owait there is one.

EDIT 2: WHAT DID THE HANDS SAY TO THE FACE?
 
SagaLore

SagaLore

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Dec 18, 2001
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What is most disturbing, if you think about it, is that there is another person "trapped" in the other hemisphere. The half is doing the talking, but the other half is aware and all it can do is control a few limbs. I wonder what would happen if there person cut in two sat down and used each hand to write letters to the other half.
 
Schadenfroh

Schadenfroh

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Mar 8, 2003
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zerocool84

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
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