Alien hand syndrome (anarchic hand or Dr. Strangelove syndrome) is an unusual neurological disorder in which one of the sufferer's hands seems to take on a life of its own. AHS is best documented in cases where a person has had the two hemispheres of their brain surgically separated, a procedure sometimes used to relieve the symptoms of extreme cases of epilepsy. It also occurs in some cases after other brain surgery, strokes, or infections.

Symptoms

An Alien Hand sufferer can feel normal sensation in the hand, but believe that it is not part of their body and that they have no control over its movements. Alien hand can perform complex acts such as undoing buttons or removing clothing. Sometimes the sufferer will not be aware of what the hand is doing until it is brought to his or her attention. Sufferers of Alien Hand will often personify the rogue limb, for example believing it "possessed" by some intelligent spirit, and may fight or punish it in an attempt to control it.

Causes and treatment

There are several distinct subtypes of Alien Hand that appear to be associated with specific types of triggering brain injury. Damage to the corpus callosum can give rise to "purposeful" actions in the sufferer's non-dominant hand (a right-handed sufferer's left hand will turn alien, and the right hand will turn alien in the left-handed), whereas injury to the brain's frontal lobe can trigger grasping and other purposeful movements in the dominant hand. Injuries to the cerebral cortex can give rise to aimless movements of either hand, and more complex alien hand movements are usually associated with brain tumors, aneurysm or stroke.

It is theorized that Alien Hand Syndrome results when disconnection occurs between different parts of the brain that control bodily movement. As a result, different regions of the brain are able to command bodily movements without being "aware" of what the other brain regions are doing. There is no known treatment for Alien Hand Syndrome at this time though the symptoms can be reduced by keeping the alien hand occupied, for example by giving it an object to hold.

Cultural references

• In the movie Mad Love (1935) starring Peter Lorre, a pianist's hands are replaced with those of a murderer and take on a life of their own. imdb link
• The character Dr. Strangelove in the movie Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb suffers from the syndrome. His hand seems to act in a more complex manner, linked with his unconscious feelings (e.g. reacting when he speaks about the Nazi party or eugenics).
• The character Ash in the Evil Dead series of movies is forced to cut his hand off with a chainsaw because it has been (quite literally) possessed by evil, and has taken on a life of its own.
• Mentioned in the Elliott Smith documentary film Strange Parallel as it relates to Elliott's paranoia of futuristic "robot hands" that control themselves.
• In Metal Gear Solid 2, virtuoso gunman Revolver Ocelot suffers from an alien arm controlled by the dispossessed personality of its original owner, Liquid Snake.
• Anton Tobias's (Devon Sawa) hand is possessed in the movie Idle Hands (1999) - imdb link.
• In Clive Barker's short story The Body Politic, the hands of several people start a rebellion against their human hosts which leads to a full scale massacre when more hands join this revolution.
• In Ray Bradbury's short story Fever Dream, the main character contracts a disease which slowly takes over the use of his body, beginning with his right hand.
• In Angel's episode Dead End, Lindsey MacDonald's new hand remains psychically linked to its original owner and constantly writes "kill" because the owner wants to be killed.
• In The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe the Chatelaine Thecla is sentenced to punishment by a device known as "the Revolutionary", the effect of which is to make her hands take on a seeming life of their own and cause self-injury.

External links

• Yahoo directory on Alien Hand Syndrome
• Alien Hand Syndrome
• Alien Hand Syndrome
• Video of dog with possible case of Alien Hand (Paw?) Syndromees:Síndrome de la mano extraña