Friday, April 4, 2008
Phantom Limbs
Someone in the class posted a blog on phantom limbs some time in the beginning of the semester. Since I read that blog and commented on how weird I thought that phenomenon was, I have seen or heard about phantom libms on television or in newspaper articles. It amazes me that the brain works to send signals to something that doesn't exist any more. The video we watched on Monday, made it more clear as to why the amputee feels his/her phantom arm. I bet people think they are crazy when they feel something that is no longer there. Recently, I was watching Law and Order, and they had a character in the episode who fought in Iraq and lost his leg. As soon as they showed that character, he complained his left ankle hurt (this was the one that was amputated). I laughed at first, because of the fact that I had been seeing so much on phantom limbs recently. This amazes me. The brain is an amazing thing.
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3 comments:
Its a weird thing, no doubt. I guess we just sort of feel incomplete without certain parts. I mean if youre missing an arm or a leg then yeah, youre gonna miss it. But lets say you lost a pinky or something. Would we still "feel" it after its gone? What is the purpose of a pinky in the first place? You use your legs. You use your hands. You use your feet. The brains sends signals to those constantly. It takes a long time to adjust to certain body parts not being there anymore.
It is certainly amazing the theme of phantom limb. And also it is also an interesting Jake's question. The one about missing a pinky finger. Well I do agree that the pinky finger is not a must have finger, you would still feel the sensation of phantom limb. I mean, it is not that it is inmobile, and I am sure that there must be situations when you try to move the finger
Yes, indeed. it is pretty amazing and proves that human's brain is very complicated and unexplainable.
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