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Proprioception and Phantom Limbs

Submitted by anonstudent01 on Thu, 02/28/2008 - 5:49pm.
The discussions so far in the forum reminded me of an article I read about a man who never lost the sensation of having a foot after his right foot was amputated. There have been many cases of people experiencing a "phantom limb," where the owner of the limb can flex its digits or feel a pain or an itch even though the physical limb is no longer attatched. The limb was and is identified by the I-function in addition to the nervous system and thus understandably haunts its owner. The foot doesn't contain the bulk of the NS like a chicken's head, but in a similar way is the body "dis-inhibited" by the lack of a limb? Or is the "I-function" so traumatized by the loss of limb that it doesn't disassociate and lose the limb? Hmmm....

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