Psychology

Some patients' own hand acts on its own, against their will

After certain strokes or split-brain surgery, one hand can perform purposeful actions, unbuttoning a shirt the other hand just buttoned, grabbing objects, even reaching for a partner's throat, while the patient insists it doesn't feel like their own and can't be consciously controlled. The condition was first clearly described in 1908 and named 'alien hand' in 1972.

Serge Brion and Claude-Paul Jedynak (named the syndrome), Alien hand syndrome — Revue Neurologique, 1972

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