Tree Bark skin, Werewolf syndrome, Stone Man’s disease, Gastroschisis are some of the world’s strangest medical conditions. These medical conditions range from having skin that looks like bark, to organs growing on the outside of one’s body. Rare medial conditions are not well known throughout the world because they are not common; therefore, they are not seen on a daily basis. One of the most uncommon medical conditions is the Alien Hand Syndrome. Alien Hand Syndrome is where either of an individuals’ hand has a mind of its own. His/her hand does as it pleases. Sometimes the hand “…can punch or even attempt to strangle its owner” (Scherer). There were numerous theories that attempted to explain the origins of the disorder, such as real aliens, but this is not caused by extraterrestrials. Instead, Alien Hand Syndrome is actually caused from various types of brain injuries or medical disorders. Strokes, tumors, or botched brain surgery can severely damage the functionality of the brain resulting in Alien Hand Syndrome amongst other disorders. What most people do not know about Alien Hand Syndrome is when this syndrome was first discovered, how the hand has a mind of its own, and different experiences patients have had.
The human brain has two hemispheres that are divided into the left and right hemispheres. If one of the two hemispheres is damaged the communication between the corpus callosum may be completely blocked. As a result, total control of one hand may be lost resulting in Alien Hand Syndrome. Once lost, regaining full communication between the two hemispheres is nearly impossible to restore. There was not much known about Alien Hand Syndrome when it was first discovered. Two questions that most researchers had upon the di...
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...simple as dropping an item or hitting something accidently could be a beginning sign of Alien Hand Syndrome. Most people would dismiss the idea as an accident, when the reality could be the start of Alien Hand Syndrome.
Alien Hand Syndrome is a unique medical condition because most people are unaware of its existence. It makes individuals ponder as to what other unknown diagnosis are in our world. There are likely more conditions out there that we do not yet know about because of the rareness of the diseases. Since Alien Hand Syndrome was first discovered, scientists have found more information on how to prevent this condition from happening. Despite these breakthroughs, there is no evidence showing proof that scientists can completely stop this syndrome, but perhaps future scientists can find a way to prevent the Alien Hand Syndrome from happening all together.
Being obedient to a leader… what comes to mind? Most people would say a dog and it’s owner but in the 1900’s what came to mind was women being obedient to their husbands. The short story “The Hand”, by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, shows how the women were to be obedient to the male and what they were to do. This story uses the hand of the husband to show its power and strength over the women and simultaneously showing the roles of what the women were to do. In the short story, “The Hand”, it reflects the period of time by showcasing the women's roles due to the overpowering male role.
Merleau-Ponty’s primary model for explicating the reversibility of the flesh is that of one hand being touched by the other,
Familial dysautonomia affects the development of sensory neurons. It affects two important nervous systems: the autonomic nervous system, which controls a persons involuntary actions, and the sensory nervous system, which controls a persons senses. It starts at birth and shortens a victim’s life span drastically. (Genetics Home Reference)
Angelman Syndrome is a genetic disorder that affects the nervous system. Angelman Syndrome, also known as AS, affects behavioral, cognitive, and developmental functions of children, but most symptoms are not seen till later in the child’s life (Williams et al.). In 1965, Harry Angelman, a British physician, studied 3 children with similar conditions. He noted many parallel features in these children. The original term for Angelman Syndrome was “Happy Puppet”, but in 1982 the term Happy Puppet became viewed as a demoralizing and was concluded that the conditions should be called Angelman Syndrome (Williams & Frias, 1982). It was first thought that Angelman Syndrome was nearly identical to Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS), but as technology advanced researchers discovered that AS was a deletion of chromosome fifteen on the maternally derived chromosome and PWS was a deletion on the paternally derived chromosome fifteen (Knoll et al., 1990). Specifically, AS is a deletion or complication in the 15q11.2–15q13 region of the chromosome (Encyclopedia & Disorders, 2008).
According to the U.S census, about 80% of people with phantom limb experience extreme excruciating pain coming from the stump. In fact, Ramachandran and Hirstein authors of “The Perception of Phantom Limbs” (1998) report that the pain haunts victims and remains painful even 25 years after loss of limb. Hence, suffering is chronic especially after an immediate amputation of a limb, where patients describe the pain as itching, burning, stabbing, or tingling. In most cases, pain interferes with work and social life and becomes a heavier burden than the paralysis itself. There’s nothing really phantom or imagined about this suffering; however, contrary to what the amputees feel, the pain is generated by the brain not originated in a limb that doesn’t exist. To be more specific, the intensity of the pain could be found in the neurons of the brain. With this in mind, one must be sure that phantom limb syndrome is certainly not a modern discovered occurrence; however, the exact cause of this sensation has puzzled scientists for dec...
Angelman Syndrome is a neuro-genetic disorder, brought upon the body through the mutilation or deletion of the maternal 15th chromosome. The prevalence of this disorder is still constantly debated because of the common symptoms it shares with other disorders, making it difficult to recognize and differentiate. More specific studies of behavior are needed to increase the range of knowledge on such a complex disorder. In 2007 Dr. Weeber relieved a mouse model of many symptoms of Angelman Syndrome. Studies of this disease are crucial for finding the cure. Even though this is a difficult challenge, there are signs of hope to cure this disease for humans.
In 1965, Dr. Harry Angelman, an English physician, first described three children with characteristics now known as the Angelman syndrome. Angelman syndrome is a neuro-genetic disorder that is usually diagnosed at a very young age, and it happens within 1 in every 15,000 births. Angelman syndrome have symptoms that can be easily mistaken with cerebral palsy or autism. Symptoms of the disorder include developmental delay, lack of speech, seizures, walking and balance disorders, sleep disturbances, hyperactivity, and frequent laughter or smiling. If a baby or child is diagnosed with Angelman syndrome they will require life-long care due to the fact that there is no cure. Due to having similarities with autism and cerebral palsy, Angelman syndrome is often misdiagnosed. Misdiagnoses are a prevalent problem today which can also lead to late diagnoses as well. When this happens, the lost time may cause inflicted individuals to lose opportunities for early intervention programs, life-altering treatments, resources, and customized personal support.
In the 1960’s, an Austrian pediatrician, Dr. Andres Rett, recognized a few of his female patients with similar indications of having some type of neurologic disorder but did not fit the cerebral palsy classification (Zoghbi, 2002). Without the knowledge of earlier research, a Swedish physician, Bengt Hagberg, began to openly speak about his observations similarly to Dr. Andres Rett records (Zoghbi, 2002). Bengt Hagberg observed numerous of female patients with this unknown syndrome and was curious in their wringing hand movement that no textbook had information on. In June 1981 Dr. Neil Gordon hosted a board meeting of the European Federations of Child Neurology Societies in Manchester and Bengt Hagberg had the opportunity to share his studies there. The discussion group had other pediatric neurologists that had seen the same behaviors but they all were unable to categorize it into its own identity. As years past, this syndrome has increased and neurologist began to evaluate this syndrome t...
stretch out our trembling hands and actually touch the monster's reptilian scales, hairy paws, or cloven
Phantom pain refers to the phenomenal experience of pain in a body part that has been amputated or deafferented (Flor, Nikolajsen & Jensen, 2006). The characteristics of phantom pain have been described to occur in quick and sudden attacks of pain shooting up and down the amputated limb as well as cases of constant, excruciating pain whilst intensely perceiving the amputated limb to be cramped or postured abnormally (Katz, 1992). Approximately eighty percent of amputees report suffering from or at least experiencing some level of phantom pain post amputation; therefore it is a prominent issue (Flor, Nikolajsen & Jensen, 2006). Phantom pain is neuropathic pain that has no individual trigger but instead a plethora of psychobiological aspects of neuroplasticity that contribute to the cause of phantom pain (Grusser, Diers & Flor, 2003). The following will: outline the role of the peripheral and central factors associated with phantom pain and discuss the cortical reorganisation of the somatosensory cortex in relation to phantom pain.
Do you know there is a medically diagnosed disorder that affects over two American children?” Experts on the subject say there are many more undiscovered cases out there and the cause is still unknown. It sounds like we have a really big problem. The thing is, the disorder that affects all these children, isn’t a disorder at all.
The nervous system includes the brain and spinal cord of the central nervous system and the ganglia of the peripheral nervous system. The functional unit of the nervous system is a neuron. It is estimated 100 billion neurons reside in the brain with some neurons making anywhere between 10,000 to 100,000 connections with other cells! A distinctive class of neurons, mirror neurons discharge both when the individual executes a motor action and when he/she observes another individual performing that same or similar action. These mirror neurons were discovered by neurophysiologists in the 1990s at the University of Parma, Italy. Using macaque monkeys, these researchers found that neurons of the rostral part of the inferior premotor cortex were activated both when the monkey made goal-directed hand movements (grasping, holding, & tearing) and when the monkey observed specific hand movements done by the experimenters (Pellegrino, et al., 1992). In a monkey’s inferior frontal and inferior parietal cortex, it is estimated that about 10% of neurons have “mirror” properties.
Sensation, as we know it, is thought to be a result of direct contact between the body and an internal or external stimulus. However, in the case of phantom limb phenomenon, sensation is explained rather differently. The phantom limb phenomenon, in short, occurs when a person with a missing limb still has sensations of limb being there; it is having the perception of missing limbs and feeling sensations from i...
(Lord, McGee 94). This symptom is a neurological disorder, making it difficult for the brain to process information from the senses, therefore the individual diagnosed with autism or Asperger’s Syndrome seem to be unaffected by pain. Some can be over or under-sensitive when it comes to touch. Lacking t...
Sperry, R. W. (1982, September 24). Some Effects of Disconnecting the Cerebral Hemispheres. Science Megazine, 217, 1223-1226.