Alien Hand Syndrome Essay

Alien Hand Syndrome is a neurological disorder in which a person cannot control their hand motion, of which usually occurs in one hand. Usually, the afflicted hand attempts to reach for an object against the will of the person, often restraining the afflicted hand with their own controlled hand. This syndrome usually occurs after a surgery that separates the two hemispheres of the brain. It also has been observed to occur after brain surgery, stroke, infection, tumor, aneurysms, as well as other specific neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease. Alien Hand Syndrome is usually associated with the frontal, parietal, and occipital lobes. There are two reported branches of Alien Hand Syndrome: Frontal and Callosal. Both Frontal and Callosal AHS usually occur in the non-dominant hand of the afflicted. Because Frontal AHS affects the Frontal Lobe, it is characterized by grasping and groping. Frontal AHS usually is a result of stroke. Callosal AHS, which affects the Parietal and Occipital Lobes of the afflicted, usually does not grasp or grope other objects, but acts as more in the “alien” realm of the syndrome, producing random motion and actions. Callosal AHS is usually a result of the hemisphere splitting surgery described earlier. Often, the sufferers of Alien Hand Syndrome do not feel any different sensations within the affected hand. However, they feel a sense of separation within the behavior of themselves and their hand. In other words, often times the sufferer cannot control their hand’s motion, and it has a “will of its own.” The afflicted also cannot feel or sense when the hand begins to act up, as it is usually pointed out to them when the affected hand begins doing something involuntarily. The hand also appears compulsively to want to interact with the objects around it, whether it picks something up, begins using an object, or interacting with the object. This shows us that the afflicted hand utilizes basic, and occasionally, fine motor skills very similar to normal human action. Due to the overactivity displayed by the hand in such environments, it may be concluded that neurons simply are unable to inhibit pre-potent motor programs embedded in our system, leading to the hand taking excitatory action in handling an object without first consulting an inhibitory response. The personality of the afflicted may also take in account to the hand’s actions, whether they act maliciously, playfully, rapidly, slowly, boisterously, or quietly. However, despite personality, the hand almost always does something opposite to what the person afflicted really wants. For example, a woman lit a cigarette with her dominant, non-afflicted right hand, and as soon as this action was completed, her non-dominant, afflicted left hand quickly took the cigarette out of her mouth and extinguished it on the ground. Another example may include buttoning up a blouse with the non-afflicted hand while simultaneously the afflicted hand unbuttons the blouse. Frontal AHS occurs when a supplementary motor area, such as the Corpus Callosum, is damaged. It also occurs when there is damage of the supplementary motor area, anterior cingulate gyrus, and medial prefrontal cortex of the dominant hemisphere is damaged. Callosal AHS usually occurs in an anterior callosal lesion. Treatment is common for those afflicted by Alien Hand Syndrome, however there is no known cure. …show more content…
There is also no treatment that can totally restore function in the afflicted hand, as doctors cannot exactly pinpoint what exactly causes Alien Hand Syndrome as well as the many other factors involved in Alien Hand Syndrome. Doctors often prescribe physical therapy for the afflicted, exercises to better control hand motions, as well as general tips and guidelines to help the afflicted cope with Alien Hand Syndrome. Doctors often encourage patients to keep the hand occupied by constantly holding an object in its hand. This nominally keeps the hand at bay. Canes have also proven to help, as the hand does not usually drop the cane to grasp another object. The afflicted are most common in the ages of 19-44. Because Alien Hand Syndrome is the direct result of brain surgeries, it is not unique to a single race, ethnicity, gender, or other specific demographics. Specifics are also hard to pinpoint as there have only been a total of 48 cases reported,