Alien hand phenomena: a review with the addition of six personal cases.
This is a comprehensive literature review of the motor abnormalities that have come to be included under the designation of Alien Hand Phenomena (AHP). Some of the disorders are dyspractic in nature - intermanual conflict, mirror movements, interference etc., while others - groping, grasping with inability to release, utilization etc. are frontal lobe reflexes. AHP are mainly associated with two pathological processes: 1) Infarction or hemorrhage in the territory of the anterior cerebral arteries; and 2) Corticobasal degeneration. Included in the review is a description of AHP in six personal cases of corticobasal degeneration. The summary includes a short discussion of the possible anatomy of 'free will' based on AHP.
Fisher
C M
CM
Neurology Service of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02114, USA.
D000368:Aged; D001479:Basal Ganglia; D002540:Cerebral Cortex; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000150:complications*; D014836:Volition