Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The phantom and the supernumerary phantom limb: historical review and new case

幻肢和余剩幻肢研究的历史性回顾及新病例报告

  • Review
  • Published:
Neuroscience Bulletin Aims and scope Submit manuscript

“The phantom I had conjured up swiftly disappeared, but no spirit could have more amazed the man, so real did it seem.”

—Silas Wier Mitchell, 1872

Abstract

The way we experience the world is determined by the way our brain works. The phantom limb phenomenon, which is a delusional belief of the presence of a non-existent limb, has a particular fascination in neurology. This positive phenomenon of the phantom limb raises theoretical questions about its nature. After a stroke, some patients experience the perception of an extra limb in addition to the regular set of two arms and two legs. This complex cognitive and perceptual distortion is called supernumerary phantom limb. Here, we review the pathogenesis and historical aspects, and report a new case.

摘要

大脑通常决定人类对其周围环境的感受。幻肢是接受过截肢手术的人所产生的一种幻觉, 他们总感觉失去的肢体仍存在于躯干上。揭开幻肢的成因已成为神经病学领域的一个研究热点。此外, 一些病人中风后会感觉到除正常存在的双臂和双腿之外, 还存在额外的肢体。这种复杂的、意识和知觉上的偏差称为余剩幻肢。本文主要就幻肢和余剩幻肢的病因及对其认识的历史性发展作一综述, 并报告一例余剩幻肢患者。

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Critchley M. The parietal lobes. NewYork: Hafner, 1953.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Fredericks J. Phantom limb and phantom limb pain. In: Fredericks J (Ed.). Handbook of Clinical Neurology. Vol.1 (45). Clinical Neuropsychology. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Melzack R. Phantom limbs and the concept of a neuromatrix. Trends Neurosci 1990, 13: 88–92.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Ehrenwald H. Verandertes Erleben des Korperbildes mit konsekutiver Wahnbildung bei linkseitiger Hemiplegie. Monatsschrift fur Psychiatrie und Neurologie 1930, 75: 89–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Frederiks JA. Occurrence and nature of phantom limb phenomena following amputation of body parts and following lesions of the central and peripheral nervous system. Psychiatr Neurol Neurochir 1963, 66: 73–97.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Canavero S, Bonicalzi V, Castellano G, Perozzo P, Massa-Micon B. Painful supernumerary phantom arm following motor cortex stimulation for central poststroke pain. Case report. J Neurosurg 1999, 91: 121–123.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Miyazawa N, Hayashi M, Komiya K, Akiyama I. Supernumerary phantom limbs associated with left hemispheric stroke: Case report and review of the literature. Neurosurgery 2004, 54: 228–231.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Antoniello D, Kluger BM, Sahlein DH, Heilman KM. Phantom limb after stroke: an underreported phenomenon. Cortex 2010, 46: 1114–1122.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Anonymous. The case of George Dedlow. The Atlantic Monthly. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1866, 18: 1–11.

  10. Keil G. Sogenannte erstbeschreibung des phantomschmerzes von Ambroise Paré. Fortsch Med 1990, 108: 62–66.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Paré A. Oeuvres Complètes d’Amboise Paré. Malgaigne JF (Ed.). Paris: Baillere, 1840–1841: 221.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Price DB, Twombly SJ. The Phantom Limb: An 18th Century Latin Dissertation Text and Translation, with a Medical-Historical and Linguistic Commentary. Washington: Georgetown University Press, 1972.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Furukawa T. Charles Bell’s description of the phantom phenomenon in 1830. Neurology 1990, 40: 1830.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Bell C. The Nervous System of the Human Body: Embracing the Papers Delivered to the Royal Society on the Subject of the Nerves. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1830.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Taylor J (Ed.). Selected Writings of John Hughlings Jackson. New York: Basic Books, 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Riddoch G. Phantom limb and body shape. Brain 1941, 64: 197–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Melville H. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Remarque EM. All Quiet on the Western Front. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Nikolajsen L, Jensen TS. Phantom limb pain. Br J Anaesth 2001, 87: 107–116.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Brugger P. Supernumerary phantoms: a comment on Grossi, et al.’s (2002) spare thoughts on spare limbs. Percept Mot Skill 2003, 97: 3–10.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Melzack R. Phantom limbs, the self and the brain (The D.O. Hebb Memorial lecture). Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne 1989, 30: 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Sherman RA. What do we really know about phantom limb pain? Pain Rev 1994, 1: 261–274.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Henderson WR, Smyth GE. Phantom limbs. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1948, 11: 88–112.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Montoya P, Larbig W, Grulke N, Flor H, Taub E, Birbaumer N. The relationship of phantom limb pain to other phantom limb phenomena in upper extremity amputees. Pain 1997, 72: 87–93.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Bechterev VM. Partial cortical and subcortical paralysis of psychoreflexive functions. Obozr Psikhiat I Nevrol 1926, 31–41.

  26. Hari R, Hänninen R, Mäkinen T, Jousmäki V, Forss N, Seppä M, et al. Three hands: fragmentation of human bodily awareness. Neurosci Lett 1998, 240: 131–134.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Jensen TS, Krebs B, Nielsen J, Rasmussen P. Immediate and long-term phantom limb pain in amputees: Incidence, clinical characteristics and relationship to pre-amputation limb-pain. Pain 1985, 21: 267–278.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Bors E. Phantom limbs of patients with spinal cord injury. Arch Neurol Psych 1951, 66: 610–631.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Bakheit AMO. Phantom limb sensations after complete thoracic transverse myelitis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2000, 69: 275–276.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Lurje A. Zur Lehre vom Korperschema. Zbl ges Neural Psychiat 1936, 81: 468.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Ovesen P, Krøner K, Ørnsholdt J, Bach K. Phantom-related phenomena after rectal amputation: prevalence and clinical characteristics. Pain 1991, 44: 289–291.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Biley FC. Phantom bladder sensation: a new concern for stoma care workers. Br J Nurs 2001, 10: 1290–1296.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Jacome DE. Dracula’s teeth syndrome. Headache 2001, 41: 892–894.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Fisher CM. Phantom erection after amputation of penis. Case description and review of the relevant literature on phantoms. Can J Neurol Sci 1999, 26: 53–56.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Sörösm P, Vo O, Husstedt IW, Evers S, Gerding H. Phantom eye syndrome. Its prevalence, phenomenology, and putative mechanisms. Neurology 2003, 60: 1542–1543.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Mayeux R, Benson DF. Phantom limb and multiple sclerosis. Neurology 1979, 29: 724–726.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Rothemund Y, Grüsser SM, Liebeskind U, Schlag PM, Flor H. Phantom phenomena in mastectomized patients and their relation to chronic and acute pre-mastectomy pain. Pain 2004, 107: 140–146.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Sunderland S. Nerves and Nerve Injury. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 1978.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Ramachandran VS, Hirstein W. The perception of phantom limbs. Brain 1998, 121: 1603–1630.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Melzack RA, Israel R, Lacroix R, Schultz G. Phantom limbs in people with congenital limb deficiency or amputation in early childhood. Brain 1997, 120: 1603–1620.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Poeck K. Phantoms following amputation in early childhood and in congenital absence of limbs. Cortex 1964, 1: 269–275.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Rogers MJ, Franzen MD. Delusional reduplication following closed-head injury. Brain Inj 1992, 6: 469–476.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Canavero S. Dynamic reverberation: A unified mechanism for central and phantom pain. Med Hypotheses 1994, 42: 2037.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Katz J, Melzack R. Pain ‘memories’ in phantom limbs: review and clinical observations. Pain 1990, 43: 319–336.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Williams AM. Phantom limb pain: elusive yet real. Rehab Nurs 1997, 22: 73–77.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Pick A. Zur pathologie des Bewusstseins vom eigenen Körper. Neurol Cbl 1915, 34: 257.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Kandel E, Schwartz J, Jessell T. Principles of Neural Science. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Melzack R, Bromage PR. Experimental phantom limbs. Exp Neurol 1973, 39: 261–269.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Carlen PL, Wall PD, Nadvorna, Steinbach T. Phantom limbs and related phenomena in recent traumatic amputations. Neurology 1978, 28: 211–217.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Boubell TP, Mannion RJ, Woolf CJ. The dorsal horn: Statedependent sensory processing, plasticity and the generation of pain. In: Wall PD, Melzack RA (Eds.). Textbook of Pain. 4th ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  51. Sandkuhler J. Learning and memory in pain pathways. Pain 2000, 88: 113–118.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. Giummarra MJ, Gibson SJ, Gergiou-Karistanis N, Bradshaw JL. Mechanisms underlying embodiment, disembodiment and loss of embodiment. Neurosci Behav Rev 2008, 32: 143–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Kingham DJ. On the general theory of neural circuitry. Med Hypotheses 1994, 42: 291–298.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. Ramachandran VS, Hirstein W. The perception of phantom limbs. The D. O. Hebb lecture. Brain 1998, 121: 1603–1630.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Rizzolatti G, Camarda R, Fogassi L, Gentilucci M, Luppino G, Matelli M. Functional organization of inferior area 6 in the macaque monkey. II. Area F5 and the control of distal movements. Exp Brain Res 1988, 7: 491–507.

    Google Scholar 

  56. Gallese V. The ’shared manifold’ hypothesis: from mirror neurons to empathy. J Conscious Stud 2001, 8: 33–50.

    Google Scholar 

  57. Ramachandran VS, Rogers-Ramachandran D. Sensations referred to a patient’s phantom arm from another subjects intact arm: perceptual correlates of mirror neurons. Med Hypotheses 2008, 70: 123–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Giummarra MJ, Gibson SJ, Georgiou-Karistianis N, Bradshaw JL. Central mechanisms in phantom limb perception: the past, present and future. Brain Res Rev 2007, 54: 219–232.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Roux FE, Ibarrola D, Lazorthes Y, Berry I. Virtual movements activate primary sensorimotor areas in amputees: report of three cases. Neurosurgery 2001, 49: 736–741.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  60. Staub F, Bogousslavsky J, Maeder P, Maeder-Ingvar M, Fornari E, Ghika J, et al. Intentional motor phantom limb syndrome. Neurology 2006, 67: 2140–2146.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurology Unit, Versilia Hospital, Via Aurelia, 55043, Lido di Camaiore (Lu), Italy

    Gabriele Cipriani, Lucia Picchi, Marcella Vedovello & Angelo Nuti

  2. Psychiatry Unit, Versilia Hospital, Via Aurelia, 55043, Lido di Camaiore (Lu), Italy

    Mario Di Fiorino

Authors
  1. Gabriele Cipriani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lucia Picchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marcella Vedovello
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Angelo Nuti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mario Di Fiorino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gabriele Cipriani.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cipriani, G., Picchi, L., Vedovello, M. et al. The phantom and the supernumerary phantom limb: historical review and new case. Neurosci. Bull. 27, 359–365 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12264-011-1737-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12264-011-1737-6

Keywords

关键词

Search

Navigation