scholarly journals The Homuncular Jigsaw: Investigations of Phantom Limb and Body Awareness Following Brachial Plexus Block or Avulsion

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariella Pazzaglia ◽  
Erik Leemhuis ◽  
Anna Giannini ◽  
Patrick Haggard
Keyword(s):  
Brachial Plexus ◽  
Behavioral Outcomes ◽  
Body Awareness ◽  
Phantom Limb ◽  
Clinical Disorders ◽  
Motor Information ◽  
Theoretical Evidence ◽  
Plexus Block ◽  
Phantom Limbs

Many neuropsychological theories agree that the brain maintains a relatively persistent representation of one’s own body, as indicated by vivid “phantom” experiences. It remains unclear how the loss of sensory and motor information contributes to the presence of this representation. Here, we focus on new empirical and theoretical evidence of phantom sensations following damage to or an anesthetic block of the brachial plexus. We suggest a crucial role of this structure in understanding the interaction between peripheral and central mechanisms in health and in pathology. Studies of brachial plexus function have shed new light on how neuroplasticity enables “somatotopic interferences”, including pain and body awareness. Understanding the relations among clinical disorders, their neural substrate, and behavioral outcomes may enhance methods of sensory rehabilitation for phantom limbs.

scholarly journals The Homuncular Jigsaw: Investigations of Phantom Limb and Body Awareness Following Brachial Plexus Block or Avulsion

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariella Pazzaglia ◽  
Erik Leemhuis ◽  
Anna Maria Giannini ◽  
Patrick Haggard
Keyword(s):  
Brachial Plexus ◽  
Behavioral Outcomes ◽  
Body Awareness ◽  
Phantom Limb ◽  
Clinical Disorders ◽  
Motor Information ◽  
Theoretical Evidence ◽  
Plexus Block ◽  
Phantom Limbs

Many neuropsychological theories agree that the brain maintains a relatively persistent representation of one’s own body, as indicated by vivid “phantom” experiences. It remains unclear how the loss of sensory and motor information contributes to the presence of this representation. Here, we focus on new empirical and theoretical evidence of phantom sensations following damage to or an anesthetic block of the brachial plexus. We suggest a crucial role of this structure in understanding the interaction between peripheral and central mechanisms in health and in pathology. Studies of brachial plexus function have shed new light on how neuroplasticity enables “somatotopic interferences,” including pain and body awareness. Understanding the relations among clinical disorders, their neural substrate, and behavioral outcomes may enhance methods of sensory rehabilitation for phantom limbs.

scholarly journals Brachial Plexus Block in Phantom Limb Pain: A Case Report

Pain Medicine ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1649-1654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Preißler ◽  
Caroline Dietrich ◽  
Winfried Meissner ◽  
Ralph Huonker ◽  
Gunther O. Hofmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Report ◽  
Brachial Plexus ◽  
Brachial Plexus Block ◽  
Phantom Limb Pain ◽  
Phantom Limb ◽  
Limb Pain ◽  
Plexus Block

Persistent Phantom Limb Pain

1981 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Dawson ◽  
Paul Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Phantom Limb Pain ◽  
Phantom Limb ◽  
Limb Pain ◽  
Personal Problems ◽  
Phantom Limbs

The role of psychological factors in 10 patients with painful phantom limbs was investigated by means of a questionnaire and interviews. The hypotheses were that the severity of pain would be positively correlated with their present personal problems and attitudes and with experience of pain in the limb before amputation. The first hypothesis was confirmed but the second was not.

Clinical perception of phantom limb sensation in patients with brachial plexus block

2002 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Gentili ◽  
C. Verton ◽  
B. Kinirons ◽  
F. Bonnet
Keyword(s):  
Brachial Plexus ◽  
Brachial Plexus Block ◽  
Phantom Limb ◽  
Plexus Block

scholarly journals Plasticity and Awareness of Bodily Distortion

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariella Pazzaglia ◽  
Marta Zantedeschi
Keyword(s):  
Body Representation ◽  
Body Awareness ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Neural Signals ◽  
Dual Nature ◽  
Clinical Disorders ◽  
Motor Information ◽  
Stored Information

Knowledge of the body is filtered by perceptual information, recalibrated through predominantly innate stored information, and neurally mediated by direct sensory motor information. Despite multiple sources, the immediate prediction, construction, and evaluation of one’s body are distorted. The origins of such distortions are unclear. In this review, we consider three possible sources of awareness that inform body distortion. First, the precision in the body metric may be based on the sight and positioning sense of a particular body segment. This view provides information on the dual nature of body representation, the reliability of a conscious body image, and implicit alterations in the metrics and positional correspondence of body parts. Second, body awareness may reflect an innate organizational experience of unity and continuity in the brain, with no strong isomorphism to body morphology. Third, body awareness may be based on efferent/afferent neural signals, suggesting that major body distortions may result from changes in neural sensorimotor experiences. All these views can be supported empirically, suggesting that body awareness is synthesized from multimodal integration and the temporal constancy of multiple body representations. For each of these views, we briefly discuss abnormalities and therapeutic strategies for correcting the bodily distortions in various clinical disorders.

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