Phantom Limbs

Today during our class discussions on sensation, a number of questions came up for which I had no readily available answers. The links I've put together below are an attempt to answer some of these questions.

1. Many of my students had questions about Phantom Limbs. This is a condition wherein an amputee still "feels" sensations from the missing limb (pain or otherwise). The tricky part about answering questions that relate to phantom limbs is that so much of the research is gleaned from case studies...so the question, "Would someone with a phantom limb feel ______________?" is hard to answer. It may be true of some patients, but not others. Or we might not have documentation of that specific situation within known case studies (but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist). The Psychology Department at Macalester College has a good site for further investigation. It provides a bunch of information on phantom limb patients, and examples of case studies on the phenomenon.
2. One interesting treatment for Phantom Limb Pain is the use of Mirror Boxes. Below you will find a video featuring Andrew Austin (a treatment provider from the UK) describing the use of Mirror Boxes in therapy. If you have a bit longer, you can check out a 2007 TED Talk by VS Ramachandran which describes the use of mirror boxes to successfully treat phantom pain (as well as two other types of disorders resulting from physical damage to the body).