Physiology of the phantom limb — Science Information, Could 11, 1974
Practically everyone who has had a leg or arm amputated typically experiences the feeling or feeling that they nonetheless have their lacking limbs. A few of them expertise ache of their “phantom limbs.” … One assumes that [cut nerves] ceaselessly hearth off impulses to the central nervous system and … create the feeling of a limb nonetheless being current…. [Scientists] have now confirmed that these occasions happen, not less than in experimental animals.
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The reason for phantom limb ache is extra sophisticated than simply misfiring nerves. Put up-amputation modifications within the spinal twine and mind may contribute, mounting proof suggests. Therapies akin to ache relievers and utilizing visible suggestions from mirrors to trick the mind can provide some aid (SN: 03/02/14). However researchers are nonetheless trying to find simpler therapies. In 2019, scientists reported that electrically stimulating nerves close to amputation websites not solely helped two males detect strain and movement by way of a prosthetic leg, but in addition diminished their phantom ache (SN: 09/09/19).
