RESUMO
Phantom limb phenomena are well characterized, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here we report a patient who relieves his phantom sensations and pain, experienced as itching and cramping, through scratching or massaging his prosthesis or the leg of another person. This pain relief occurs only when phantom limb sensations are present. We hypothesize that symptom relief results from incorporation of the foreign limb into the patient's body image, mediated by the sensory mirror neuron system, relieving pain by restoring concordance between sensory systems.
Assuntos
Membros Artificiais , Imagem Corporal , Perna (Membro) , Percepção da Dor , Dor/psicologia , Membro Fantasma/psicologia , Adulto , Humanos , Masculino , Massagem , Cãibra Muscular/psicologia , Membro Fantasma/terapia , Prurido/psicologiaRESUMO
The history of writer's cramp is reviewed, and the study of ten cases described. Nine of the patients were male with obsessional personalities, and involved in a conflict with some bearing on the act of writing. Treatment by psychotherapy and re-education produced either temporary or little improvement; biofeedback, used in six cases, produced some benefit in four, of which only one relapsed. Although no statistical weight can be attached to the results of so short a series, biofeedback appears to offer a promise of response which merits further investigation. The use of the electromyograph is discussed also as a means of discriminating between tension and tremor in such cases, with particular reference to their psychosomatic meaning.