And Yet It Moves: What We Currently Know about Phantom Arm Movements. (August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Scaliti, Eugenio; Gruppioni, Emanuele; Becchio, Cristina
• Is Part Of: Neuroscientist. Volume 26:Number 4(2020)
• Page Start: 328
• Page End: 342
• Publication Date: 2020-08
• Subjects: amputees -- phantom arm/hand movement -- kinematics -- electromyography -- cortical reorganization -- prosthetic; Neurosciences -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Neurobiology -- Periodicals; 616.8005
• DOI: 10.1177/1073858420904326
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1073-8584

Abstract

What is left over if I subtract the fact that my arm goes up from the fact that I raise my arm? Neurological evidence invites the provocative hypothesis that what is left over is a phantom arm movement—a movement of an arm that has been amputated. After arm/hand amputation, many amputees report that they can generate voluntary movements of the phantom limb; that is, they can move the arm that was amputated. But what is it like to move an arm/hand that is not there? Here, we review what is currently known about phantom limb movements at three descriptive levels: the kinematic level, the muscle level, and the cortical level. We conclude that phantom arm movements are best conceptualized as the real movements of a dematerialized hand.