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Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind?
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I studied Neuropsychology in college and there is a great book I'd recommend about this very topic. It's one of those books that is a classic in the field; some would say its the unofficial sequel to The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat by Oliver Sacks (I've never read it but heard great things). The book I recommend is Phantoms of the Brain by V.S. Ramachandran. It's a little dated as far as psychological trends go, but since Neuroscience changes more slowly, a lot of the topics are still relevant.
As for your exact question, the final chapter (Chapter 12: 'Do Martians See Red?') should satisfy your question/appetite. It's one of those that still impacts me today and how I view and question my world around me.
Check out any books/lectures by V.S. Ramachandran
There is so much your brain is doing that you are very unaware of. Try reading Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind https://www.amazon.com/dp/0688172172/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_HQF3D29W506DSYSDYDCN and older but really great book on the brain to get a version on how the brain works.
You need to read this and understand that if this was a very powerful feeling, and your friends noticed a change in you, it's almost certain that you had a small stroke. There is a known and measurable area in the brain that, when damaged, causes religious feelings - specifically the attachment of religious significance to certain things.
https://www.amazon.com/Phantoms-Brain-Probing-Mysteries-Human/dp/0688172172
No, although it does contain lots of interesting case studies.
This is the book:
https://www.amazon.com/Phantoms-Brain-Probing-Mysteries-Human/dp/0688172172/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468079092&sr=8-1&keywords=phantoms+in+the+brain+ramachandran
Depends if your comment is meant as a compliment.
But my appreciation of good jokes was enhanced by a neuroscientists take on what constitutes humor.
http://www.amazon.com/Phantoms-Brain-Probing-Mysteries-Human/dp/0688172172
Its a good book if your interested in brain stuff.
Very, very interesting book that he wrote about this and other conditions - his writing style is incredibly accessible to the common person, but he goes into enough detail that it's as interesting as this talk is.
Would like to know about your paper. I am a neuro optometrist who treats patients with this condition and also lectures to other doctors about it. While it has a number of names, we now like to call it unilateral spatial inattention (USI) as it's not purposeful neglect. It can also present in systems other than visual processing. Check out Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind by V. S. Ramachandran. He's been researching this for at least 30 years.
I studied psych in school, so maybe this will be helpful.
You're conflating a few different irl conditions -- which is fine as long as you do your research, know what you're doing, and don't reinforce stereotypes.
People with trauma sometimes have multiple personalities (DID). But they don't hear voices. The personalities don't talk to each other. They switch off, and go unconscious when they're not in control. This condition isn't very well understood, because it's so rare. But the tl;dr is that these people, like.... probably actually do have multiple personalities. It's not a delusion. It's not an act. It's straight-forwardly happening. (This is so rare that some psychologists think it's bullshit. Others don't. There are smart people in both camps.)
People with schizophrenia, which mostly isn't trauma-related, hear voices, which often tell them what to do. They may feel like the voices are controlling their thoughts or actions. But they never go unconscious or have memory gaps. It's not like the other identities take over their body. It feels to them like they're a conscious puppet. But this is a delusion. It's all them.
tl;dr, from what we understand, everybody's brain and nervous system is composed of different systems that are hilariously jankily strung together. My favorite examples are
- the part of your brain that enjoys things. That's why you desperately want that burger, but when you get it, it's not that great
- a subconscious part of your brain handles the incredible geometry of walking around. But you're consciously shitty at geometry
- your nerves in your but are feeling your chair right now. But your conscious brain filters it out, because it's not relevant. (Until I just mentioned this!)
- everybody has multiple personalities
All these different systems are jabbering all the time. But parts of your brain -- mostly in the front -- filter it all and compose it into a coherent narrative. This is your personality, consciousness, and sense of self. But it's largely bullshit.
Here are some illustrative examples of what happens when it goes wrong
- split brain patients
- intrusive thoughts
- the story about paralysis patients who can't understand that they're paralyzed from Phantoms in the Brain
In people with schizophrenia, the systems that filter out the subconscious (which is different from the Freudian subconscious) stop working. It would be like if the code running Youtube started rendering on the screen. So their perception of "there's a random new voice in my head" is fairly accurate. They just don't understand that the voice is part of their own brain and it's been there the whole time, now it's just un-muted. (This is actually quite similar to OCD.) As the disease gets worse, they lose track of what's Them and Not Them. So their own actions can feel like they're controlled by someone else. And phenomenon outside them sometimes seem like it's under their control -- they think they're psychic.
An interesting thing is that Americans hear are much more frightening voices than people in India and Africa. Maybe because Americans expect schizophrenia to be more horrific, or maybe because of different mythologies. Like, maybe if you're an African hearing a voice, you're more likely to think it's your grandfather's ghost, while Americans will think it's a demon.
idk if anyone knows how DID works -- least of all me. But, presumably, it's some kind of idiosyncrasy related to the multiple personalities everyone has, possibly exacerbated by gaps of memory caused by more vanilla dissociation.
The idea that mentally ill people don't know they're mentally ill is a myth. You can totally know that you're delusional and hallucinating while it's happening.
I thought Jinx in Arcane was really, really well done. She hears voices, which are fairly realistic to schizophrenia. I thought it was a beautiful depiction of it. But her condition (which is pretty fanciful) is triggered by trauma. (Also, schizophrenic people aren't violent.)
The best depiction of schizophrenia is this indie movie They Look Like People, but I can't remember if the hero hears voices.
I hear Split is grounded in reality, but people with DID are also not violent. Some people have a Bad personality, but it's just a garden variety jerk.
Let me start by saying I am not fully healed, but I am at 20-40% of the pain and have days or times of day of no pain. After 15 years of living with serious pain I've progressed to this point in the last 4 months so I wanted to share my journey a bit.
I read Sarno's book a while ago but it never really resonated with me. He didn't give me the explanation I needed as to why the pain is there and more importantly how I would cure it. He ties it to breathing and stuff which just didn't add up for me. However his stuff is the basis of everything else below which has helped me find a way out.
I knew he was on to something because from reading the book Phantoms in the Brain by Dr. Ramachandran (https://www.amazon.ca/Phantoms-Brain-Probing-Mysteries-Human/dp/0688172172) I knew the mind can conjure pain.
He talks about Phantom Limb pain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom\_pain) and what it is and how to cure it. One of the revolutionary methods Dr. Ramachandran came up with for curing this pain is mirrors. Yup, mirrors https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vkb2iz5Ue0 (this is a hospital a 5 minute walk from me so if they're using this technique it's accredited and very real for me).
So I knew Sarno was on to something, my mind could cause pain, but now how do I heal myself? How do I use mirrors? So I tried some things like my girlfriend typing as I watch (which would cause pain), I tried some form of mirrors, tried recording myself typing and watching... not much success with any of it. I just didn't know how to start progressing in right direction. Seriously considered hypnosis.
Then I stumbled on 'Pathways' App on Android. I never paid for the paid version, but in the free version there are some educational audio recordings, the idea is educating you on how Pain is felt by the body. Essentially that pain doesn't start at the hand (or wherever for you), but that it starts at the brain, that by understanding this you can relax that there is no pain etc (go listen to the audio recordings, I'm butchering it). However, this connected Sarno's work to a model of 'Pain' that made sense to me.
So I needed to convince myself that pain could be made up like this and watched many YouTube videos, this one is a MUST watch if you are feeling chronic pain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VyH1laOd2M there are also a few similar Ted talks you will probably get recommended by YouTube after you watch that.
Next, the book: The Way Out by Alan Gordon really really helped me. There are some really interesting research findings he shared, for example, in a study the researchers can predict with 80% accuracy who will develop chronic whiplash after a car accident. I liked this book and when done I went to his website where they offer therapy for this stuff, I only tried his free sample stuff plastered all over the site and this really really helped me start understanding how to deal with the pain. https://www.painpsychologycenter.com/how-it-works.html
So I have been treating the pain at the source.. the things I hold onto, the 'fight or flight' situation. More pain arising from thinking there will be pain (like my example before where I would get pain watching others type). I listen to his stuff a lot now: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5pzU-xL78NVCOvZfuaB\_HQ
I spend a lot of time listening to content that helps me better understand the pain, the source, etc. I made a Youtube playlist and listen to this stuff whenever I'm doing chores or going to bed. This was never meant to be shared so no rhyme or reason to it, just stuff on relaxation, pain etc that are all on topic for me.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIz0KI\_9qIWRR6LpI8boGIcyQVkJTr4pi
As I have better and better days I can now connect the pain to my mood. After a couple days of no pain at all, yesterday I had a bad day and suddenly pain all over, but now I can at least see those connections. Slowly gaining an understanding that the pain starts as a distraction, just like I may binge eat when I stress out... it's all connected.
So more mindfulness, more letting go, more reading stories of similar people... and lastly, much less fear of the pain. Typing something like this which is so long that 5 months ago I would NOT be able to type, would stress over it for days. Prior to my progress I broke down as I felt like seriously disabled, can't use my arms at all and the pain was progressing from my fingers and wrists to arms, shoulders. The above has really helped me.
I know you asked for some simple book info but that's my journey I've been meaning to share as I hope it helps some others. I just kind of typed it all up so might need some editing but figured it's at least a start. Feel free to ask any questions.
Let me start by saying I am not fully healed, but I am at about 20 - 40% of the pain and have days or times of day of no pain. After 15 years of living with serious pain I've progressed to this point in the last 4 months so I wanted to share my journey a bit.
I read Sarno's book a while ago but it never really resonated with me. He didn't give me the explanation I needed as to why the pain is there and more importantly how I would cure it. He ties it to breathing and stuff which just didn't add up for me. However his stuff is the basis of everything else below which has helped me find a way out.
I knew he was on to something because from reading the book Phantoms in the Brain by Dr. Ramachandran (https://www.amazon.ca/Phantoms-Brain-Probing-Mysteries-Human/dp/0688172172) I knew the mind can conjure pain.
He talks about Phantom Limb pain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom\_pain) and what it is and how to cure it. One of the revolutionary methods Dr. Ramachandran came up with for curing this pain is mirrors. Yup, mirrors https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vkb2iz5Ue0 (this is a hospital a 5 minute walk from me so if they're using this technique it's accredited and very real for me).
So I knew Sarno was on to something, my mind could cause pain, but now how do I heal myself? How do I use mirrors? So I tried some things like my girlfriend typing as I watch (which would cause pain), I tried some form of mirrors, tried recording myself typing and watching... not much success with any of it. I just didn't know how to start progressing in right direction. Seriously considered hypnosis.
Then I stumbled on 'Pathways' App on Android. I never paid for the paid version, but in the free version there are some educational audio recordings, the idea is educating you on how Pain is felt by the body. Essentially that pain doesn't start at the hand (or wherever for you), but that it starts at the brain, that by understanding this you can relax that there is no pain etc (go listen to the audio recordings, I'm butchering it). However, this connected Sarno's work to a model of 'Pain' that made sense to me.
So I needed to convince myself that pain could be made up like this and watched many YouTube videos, this one is a MUST watch if you are feeling chronic pain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VyH1laOd2M there are also a few similar Ted talks you will probably get recommended by YouTube after you watch that.
Next, the book: The Way Out by Alan Gordon really really helped me. There are some really interesting research findings he shared, for example, in a study the researchers can predict with 80% accuracy who will develop chronic whiplash after a car accident. I liked this book and when done I went to his website where they offer therapy for this stuff, I only tried his free sample stuff plastered all over the site and this really really helped me start understanding how to deal with the pain. https://www.painpsychologycenter.com/how-it-works.html
So I have been treating the pain at the source.. the things I hold onto, the 'fight or flight' situation. More pain arising from thinking there will be pain (like my example before where I would get pain watching others type). I listen to his stuff a lot now: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5pzU-xL78NVCOvZfuaB\_HQ
I spend a lot of time listening to content that helps me better understand the pain, the source, etc. I made a Youtube playlist and listen to this stuff whenever I'm doing chores or going to bed. This was never meant to be shared so no rhyme or reason to it, just stuff on relaxation, pain etc that are all on topic for me.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIz0KI\_9qIWRR6LpI8boGIcyQVkJTr4pi
As I have better and better days I can now connect the pain to my mood. After a couple days of no pain at all, yesterday I had a bad day and suddenly pain all over, but now I can at least see those connections. Slowly gaining an understanding that the pain starts as a distraction, just like I may binge eat when I stress out... it's all connected.
So more mindfulness, more letting go, more reading stories of similar people... and lastly, much less fear of the pain. Typing something like this which is so long that 5 months ago I would NOT be able to type, would stress over it for days. Prior to my progress I broke down as I felt like seriously disabled, can't use my arms at all and the pain was progressing from my fingers and wrists to arms, shoulders. The above has really helped me.
I know you asked for some simple book info but that's my journey I've been meaning to share and hope it helps. I just kind of typed it all up so might need some editing but figured it's at least a start. Feel free to ask any questions.
Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind, by V. S. Ramachandran
An amazing post. For the sheer power with which you express your pain. That tells me that you have tremendous courage and strength.
I think you need to talk again with your parents - you must AT THE LEAST go and visit your pediatrician. Explaining this to a professional will make the difference. I am suggesting the next sentence only if you cannot make headway with your parents. Now, if you feel your parents will respond wrongly, make up an excuse of being sick and go to the ped. He/she will then guide you on. Coming from he pediatrician it may carry a lot more weight. But I think talking to your parents very seriously again is worth it. Please do that.
How have you managed for the last 10 years? You do indicate that you have episodes that come and go. Why is this time different? Can you figure that out? Are you less occupied ? Are you alone at home often? Do you remember any of your good friends? Would you be able to reach out to them?
Option 2: Sometimes, this type of "depersonalization" MAY BE - I repeat - MAY BE a brain abnormality, and not psychiatric. I say this because of the very early onset - at 5 yrs of age. I have been dabbling on and off in neurology and I must recommend you read these two books -
https://www.amazon.com/Phantoms-Brain-Probing-Mysteries-Human/dp/0688172172
https://www.amazon.com/Brief-Tour-Human-Consciousness-Impostor/dp/0131872788
Dr. Ramachandran is the foremost authority on such topics. And is a senior Professor in U Calif, San Diego. And here is the link to the Department : http://cbc.ucsd.edu/ramabio.html . I strongly suggest you copy and paste your post in here and write to them.
Your symptoms at such an early age is worth noting. You will find your exact condition described, and the scientific evidence behind it.
I am very happy to receive PMs if you are comfortable with that or whatever - keep your chin up ! You are a passionate and intelligent young girl.
Also he’s got a great book called Phantoms in the Brain.
For those interested in more, I read this one for one of my projects: http://www.amazon.com/Phantoms-Brain-Probing-Mysteries-Human/dp/0688172172
Further reading: http://www.amazon.com/Phantoms-Brain-Probing-Mysteries-Human/dp/0688172172
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilayanur_S._Ramachandran
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_box
The last link discusses how a phantom limb can feel clenched tight, and by mirroring the limb with a mirror box, the patient can "unclench" the missing muscles which are sending phantom pain in the mind. An episode of House, M. D. dealt with this.
(page 2)
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f1vrp?context=1) (BigRedHair):
> First - wow. You're pretty damn lucky to be alive - and I was so glad you were wearing a helmet! > Did you recognize your ex-step mother when she came in? Did you know that the people visiting were family/friends? > I may have missed this, but how long is this guy's jail sentence? >
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f5y1p?context=1) (PRTetu):
> I think he got six months. > > I recognized my ex-stepmother, but that didn't change the fact that it felt like my first memory. I don't remember anyone else visiting besides my dad's wife who came to grab me when I was released.
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f2m85?context=1) (chiro_throw):
> Please take your own medical care seriously: http://www.skepdic.com/chiro.html > > Chiropractic services are not based on science. At worst they can leave dead, or paralyzed for life. Don't take my word for it; educate yourself on any treatment you are looking to or currently receiving. > > Rather than read the link above, which is quite lengthy - I will admit, wikipedia has a good section on the risk-benift of chiro here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropractic#Risk-benefit
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f5ykr?context=1) (PRTetu):
> What is the alternative?
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f5y06?context=1) (qazplu33):
> >The second time, I had to take the stand and testify against him. I once again refused to look at the evidence photos and was asked things like what I thought his punishment should be. > > What did you say? I'm not here to criticise anything you say, I'm just curious what you thought. I know I'd want to do... illegal things to him, especially after he half-assed his apology. What a dick.
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f619s?context=1) (PRTetu):
> There was a lot I really wanted to say. He should be castrated without anesthesia so as not to continue to pollute the gene pool and in a very painful way. He should pay me every cent he ever makes. His children should be taken away. He should have to spend all six months of his sentence in solitary confinement with the nyan cat looping on a small speaker barely audibly. I should get to hit him on my bicycle with his truck. > > What I ended up saying was that he should never drive again and probably spend some time in jail.
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f5swg?context=1) (jwolf227):
> The driver did turn himself in an hour later. His thoughts were probably oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck I just killed a guy. And often when you get in that highly panicked mindset, the first thing you think is to return to routine, something familiar. He probably went home, calmed down, and realized he needed to account for what he had done.
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f61n2?context=1) (PRTetu):
> From the biking blog I linked: > > "In a sign of the sheer stupidity demonstrated by some drivers — especially those foolish enough to flee the scene of a collision — Travers called police to report he may have been in a collision, after apparently seeing the story on the news. But swore he wasn’t the one who hit the cyclist. > > Needless to say, police investigators found evidence connecting him to the crime. Which they may never have found if Travers hadn’t attempted to craft a case of implausible deniability."
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f25q8?context=1) (I_LOVE_ASPARTAME):
> I was attacked in my neighborhood before and don't remember anything from that day and two days before. My body is probably doing me a favor by blocking everything out, but it has been crazy hard dealing with the curiosity of trying to bring the memory forward. i've now come to terms with it and let my defenses shut it out. Yay ptsd
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f657c?context=1) (PRTetu):
> lol yaaaayyyy.
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f1z12?context=1) (whodafukisethanembry):
> Do you see yourself, someday, returning to biking as a means of transportation?
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f65i9?context=1) (PRTetu):
> To this point, I had thought absolutely not. There are some exceptions, but absolutely not on public streets with vehicle access. At least not anytime soon.
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f4jox?context=1) (jewcebox95):
> I remember hearing about this on the news, I live in Dena. Glad you're doing better and hope everything turns out alright.
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f65ok?context=1) (PRTetu):
> Thank you for that.
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f57am?context=1) (iheartfirefly):
> Be healthy, physically and mentally. Do good things for yourself. I had some head trauma after an accident a few years ago and the first 18 months was hard...I couldn't remember words, anxiety was BAD, lots of hermit-y stuff but it got easier as I settled into the meds and started living how I envisioned my life (even tho it wasn't comfortable to do.) Good luck, don't be a hero and suffer through the pain - talk to people about it, get help, let your friends be friends, ya know?
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f65rj?context=1) (PRTetu):
> Good advice. Thank you.
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f59h2?context=1) (badluckgod13):
> Holy shit man this sucks. I live right off of foothill boulevard in la Canada I'm so sorry this happened.
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f65wy?context=1) (PRTetu):
> I went to LCHS. My father teaches there/coaches golf.
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f59xt?context=1) (P1h3r1e3d13):
> You may be interested in Phantoms in the Brain. It covers some of that weird, mind-body disconnect stuff.
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f6636?context=1) (PRTetu):
> I will definitely check that out.
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f5br8?context=1) (yummyfrenchfry):
> glad your ok my friend unfortunately was killed on thursday - http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/inland_empire&id=8736771
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f66gw?context=1) (PRTetu):
> It breaks my heart every time I read another one of those. > > The "Why me?" question as to why I was either hit or survived is kinda out of my head now, but it does come up when I see something like that. > > Stay strong.
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f5by1?context=1) (cukabara7047):
> I was struck by a driver last fall who left me with some pretty bad hand injuries, (as my right arm went through his left headlight) but nothing too lasting. He sped off the second I hit the ground, too, but unfortunately there were no witnesses so there were no repercussions. > Glad to hear your feelin better man, stay safe out there
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f66le?context=1) (PRTetu):
> Glad to hear you weren't more seriously injured. > > Thanks for the positive vibes.
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f59tl?context=1) (GimmieMore):
> It went from bad to worse... But there were a lot of factors involved... > > She actually ended up threatening me with violence for very minimal reasons... regularly. > > Head injuries are a bitch.
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f6766?context=1) (PRTetu):
> I'm assuming the relationship ended not long after the accident?
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f5cnm?context=1) (antisocialmedic):
> Yeesh. I am sorry to hear that happened to you my friend. Here is hoping to a fast and thorough recovery! > > Also, do you find the road rash to be as awful as I do? I got hit by a car and dragged for a bit when I was a kid, no broken bones but a ton of road rash. It was pretty awful. I can't imagine having to go through what you did.
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f67qb?context=1) (PRTetu):
> To be honest, the road rash wasn't as bad as the joint pain and rampant bruising. > > Had it just been road rash, I'm sure it would've sucked pretty hard itself. I had some (slight understatement) experience with road rashes as a young care-free skateboarder.
[Question](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f5cs8?context=1) (Juliet2yourRomeo):
> Did you have a Significant other at the time of the accident? If so did the dynamic of the relationship change? Have any of your relationships changed in regards to u feeling like a totally new person? Do u have new interests than before ? Haha sorry for the million questions but this is interesting and I'm very glad you survived and I wish you the best in your recovery :)
[Answer](/r/IAmA/comments/wofok/_/c5f68hi?context=1) (PRTetu):
> I did not have a significant other and wasn't dating anyone... that I can recall. > > I can't really speak to how much relationships have changed as I can't really remember what they were like before. I'm sure if I got a couple friends to hop on here, they could be a little more insightful as far as that goes. As far as the interests, just being interested in social activity is definitely new and not having any interest in MMO's is also a polar shift. I also have an affinity for old movies from the 40s-60s now which I can't ever recall having a remote interest in.
(continued below)
>Chop off foot = Problem solved!
Nope..He will then have a phantom limb and most likely phantom pain and the chewing will continue.
http://www.amazon.com/Phantoms-Brain-Probing-Mysteries-Human/dp/0688172172
He wrote an amazing book called <em>Phantoms in the Mind: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind</em>. Highly recommended!
The original book "Phantoms in the Brain" by V.S. Ramachandran is an excellent read.
I don't know if this has been relayed to you already or not, but there's a very interesting doctor named V.S. Ramachadran who does a lot of work on phantom limbs. He found that he could, fairly reliably, alleviate "phantom itch" by having the patient scratch the body part that is next to the missing limb as represented in the brain.
In other words, while your lips aren't the closest thing to your hand physically, in your brain they are very close to one another. So for patients missing a hand, when the missing hand itched and they scratched their lips, it often got rid of the itch in the missing hand.
If phantom sensations persist, try looking up a good map of how the body is represented on the somatosensory cortex. Apparently, they're right next to the genitals (I'm not trying to be funny).
What this means is, if your missing limb gets itchy toes, try scratching your genitals. Seriously, I'm not being funny, even though it is in fact a little funny.
Here's the book, since I'm relatively new to reddit and don't know how to hyperlink it.
An amazing read, by the way.
Hope this helps. Very cool that you're being very cool about this whole experience.
you may be interested in this book, given your personal (unfortunate) experience with phantom limbs. peace!
http://www.amazon.com/Phantoms-Brain-Probing-Mysteries-Human/dp/0688172172
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