Thursday, April 11, 2013

Scientists create phantom sensations in non-amputees

The sensation of having a physical body is not as self-evident as one might think. Almost everyone who has had an arm or leg amputated experiences a phantom limb: a vivid sensation that the missing limb is still present. A new study by neuroscientists at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that it is possible to evoke the illusion of having a phantom hand in non-amputated individuals. (Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience)


Ph.D. Student Arvid Guterstam explains how he and his colleagues at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden can evoke the illusion of having a phantom hand in non-amputated individuals. (Credit: Ola Danielsson, Karolinska Institutet)