Re: Is the alien hand syndrome something that still goes on today?

Alien Hand Syndrome

Dear Alexis, thank you for your question. Yes there is such a condition 
which is called the Alien Hand Syndrome (AHS).  This is a rare condition 
that can effect either hands or limbs, but it is most commonly a problem 
with the hands.  Persons with this condition complain that they are not 
always in control of one of their hands.  Some of them say  that they have 
no idea when the hand is going to act up and can only watch it do whatever 
it wants to. Persons with injuries to the brain including, the corpus 
callosum, sometimes report that one of their limbs, typically an arm, acts 
as though it belongs to somebody else.  In right-handed persons, injury to 
the corpus can lead to ``purposeful'' movements
of the left hand.  It appears that the problem is a lack of communication 
between the two hemispheres of the brain.  For example,  some epileptic 
patients who have their corpus callosum severed in order to reduce their 
seizure activity report at least going through a brief period of 'alien 
hand',  although it usually goes away after a while.  (Note that the corpus 
callosum is the large bundle of nerves which connects the right and left 
hemispheres of our brains and facilitates communication between the two).  
In some cases, the condition persists for a long time. 
                
In general, this condition typically arises in the aftermath of brain 
surgery or a stroke.  In a few cases, the condition may result from an 
infection such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), which is a degenerative 
brain disorder caused by infectious particles called prions. This is similar 
to "mad-cow disease."  It appears that persons with AHS  can feel sensation 
in the hand, but believe that they have no control over its movements.  The 
limb seems to act on its own, outside of the person's control.  In some 
cases, the alien limb performs complex behaviors such as unbuttoning a 
garment  or removing a hair pin, but these are usually associated with brain 
tumors, aneurysm or stroke. 
                 
One seemingly common factor between all of the causes for AHS is  that all 
of these disorders involve several parts of the brain at once, suggesting 
that simultaneous damage
to the parts of the brain that control movement may be responsible. 
Unfortunately, there is currently no treatment or cure for this disorder.  
The following URL includes summaries of 16 recent studies involving AHS.  
http://www.indiana.edu/~pietsch/alienhand98.html I have put a few other 
sources below. Good luck with your project! You certainly picked an 
interesting and unusual disorder.


Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 2000;68:103-104. 
http://www.canjneurolsci.org/27augtoc/alien.html