Phantoms in the Brain
- V.S. Ramachandran &
- Sandra Blakeslee
William Morrow,$27, 320 pp., 1998 ISBN: 0-688-15247-3 | ISBN: 0-688-15247-3
Each chapter covers a different topic, the only commonality being the seemingly bizarre and paradoxical nature of the neurological deficits described. The description of Ramachandran's celebrated work on referred sensation in patients with amputated (phantom) limbs is an early highlight of the book. Although referred sensations—that is, feelings in phantom limbs generated by touch elsewhere on the body—have been described before, Ramachandran's insightful contribution relates them to the somatosensory 'homunculus' in the brain and to recent electrophysiological discoveries about neural plasticity. The subsequent chapter on 'treatment' of referred phantom limb pain—the patient views a mirror–reflection of their intact limb moving, apparently at the location of the amputated limb—is less successful. No systematic study of the effectiveness of this treatment has yet been done, and there is no clear notion why the mirror intervention should work. As with much of the book, we are in uncertain and speculative territory, although the journey is certainly a thought–provoking one.
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