Make Your Brain Work by Amy Brann

Author:Amy Brann
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kogan Page

HEALING WHAT IS NO LONGER THERE

Phantom limbs cause amputees a lot of problems. When a person has a limb amputated the brain still has a neurological map of it – in effect the brain still thinks it exists. Unfortunately, this means a person can still experience pain in the amputated limb. A great man called V S Ramachandran worked out a way to help many of these sufferers.

The process involved placing a mirror in front of the healthy remaining limb, which creates the illusion of a present missing limb. The brain acts as if it is present and the patient can stretch it, exercise it, even itch it. This is now routine treatment for many amputees.

Some people weren’t yet able to undergo mirror therapy. G L Moseley, an Australian scientist, worked with people to get them ready for the therapy. Moseley believed that by building up the amputated limb’s motor map in the brain it might start to change. He trained the patients to imagine moving the painful limbs. This activated the necessary brain networks. They were also given lots of pictures of hands, right and left, and their aim was to identify which it was (left or right) quickly and accurately to activate their motor cortex. They even practised imagining hands in various positions for 15 minutes three times a day.

After 12 weeks of therapy, including the mirror therapy once they were able to take part, in 50 per cent of people the pain had gone. For others it was reduced. Years ago it would have been seen as impossible to cure someone of pain without surgery, electricity or even medication.

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