Alien Hand Syndrome

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Involuntary masturbation in alien hand syndrome

This is a fascinating case study in American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation about a man who lost conscious control over one of his hands after brain injury and suffered involuntary public masturbation episodes as a result.

Involuntary masturbation as a manifestation of stroke-related alien hand syndrome

Ong Hai BG, Odderson

Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2000 Jul-Aug;79(4):395-8.

Alien hand syndrome is a perplexing and uncommon clinical diagnosis. We report an unusual manifestation of alien hand syndrome in a 73-yr-old man with a right anterior cerebral artery infarct affecting the right medial frontal cortex and the anterior portion of the corpus callosum. We conclude that alien hand syndrome should be considered in patients who present with a feeling of alienation of one or both upper limbs accompanied by complex purposeful involuntary movement.

We tend to think of the cognitive impairments after brain injury as the most disabling – things like loss of memory or speech or language impairment, but we often neglect what we might call social impairments.

Especially when the effect is embarrassing, these can have just as strong an impact because many people massively restrict their lives to prevent causing social discomfort to themselves or others.

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Alien Hand Syndrome
Written by Alan Bellows on 19 November 2005

Alien Hand SyndromeThere is a very real, very disturbing, and very rare medical condition called “Alien Hand Syndrome” (AHS). An individual with this neurological disorder has full sensation in the rogue hand, but is unable to control its movements, and does not feel that it is a part of their body. The hand becomes personified, as if it has a will of its own, and its owner will usually deny ownership of the limb.

Though AHS was first identified in 1908, it was not clearly defined until 1972. Depending on the cause of the injury, the movements may be random or purposeful, and may effect the dominant or non-dominant hand. The symptoms are brought on by an injury to the brain, such as head trauma, stroke, tumor, or infection, but it can also be a side effect of a certain kind of brain surgery where the patient has the two lobes of the brain separated to relieve severe epilepsy.

As a side effect of brain surgery, or an injury to the corpus callosum (the area of the brain which connects the two halves of the brain), the movements are usually grasping motions in the non-dominant hand. When caused by head trauma, similar grasping and groping motions will often involuntarily occur in the dominant hand.

When the condition is brought about by a brain tumor, aneurysm, or a stroke, the alien hand may also engage in complex purposeful behavior, such as compulsive manipulation of tools, undoing buttons, or tearing clothes. Sometimes the sufferer is completely unaware of what the hand is doing until it is brought to his or her attention, or until they happen to see it themselves.

There is currently no treatment for Alien Hand Syndrome, but the symptoms can often be relieved by giving the rogue hand an object to manipulate, to keep it occupied.

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Merged.

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Wow what an insane disorder!!
Haha if I ever had this I'd run around doing all sorts of shit shouting, "Its not mine I swear! It has a mind of its oooown!!"