Woman sees ‘third arm’ after stroke
Jun 24th, 2009 by moon
Has someone just been watching too many sci-fi movies on Hulu? Doctors at Geneva University Hospital disagree. This is a special case of a supernumerary phantom limb. After suffering a stroke, the 64-year old woman says she can see and feel the “presence of a pale, milky-white and translucent third arm.” More surprisingly, she even uses it to scratch other parts of her body! When neurologists gave her an MRI, they found activity in her motor and visual cortices. Even though the arm does not physically exist, her brain responds as if it’s really there.
Just for fun…
Does this mean that the stroke affected her right LGN and the somato-sensory cortex?