Alien Hand Syndrome

Scott Hardie | October 25, 2002
Add "alien hand syndrome" to the list of diseases that I wouldn't mind having for one day. If you haven't heard of it, it involves one hand, usually the left, literally moving on its own. It's not always "evil," but common examples include slapping people in the face, pushing the right hand out of the way while the right is trying to write something, and seizing control of the steering wheel. This is a real affliction, but very rare. It happens in patients whose corpus callosums have been damaged, resulting in the right brain and the left brain acting independently. Supposedly the person still identifies self in one half of the brain, but the other half of the brain is just as functional. I guess it's like having another person in control of your left hand, and the creepiest part is that somewhere in your brain, in your subconscious, it's really you that's doing it. Talk about a way to contrast the conscious from the subconscious.

Matthew Preston | October 25, 2002
That's what that is! It's my damn alien hand that's been feeding me McDonald's extra value meals and donuts all these years. I don't even like donuts!
 
But seriously, I did see a Discovery channel show on this once. It's kind of creepy. This guys left hand was like the two year old toddler down the street with no discipline.

Scott Hardie | October 25, 2002
Hmmm. I have read several web sites on the matter now, and though various crackpot-level theories have been presented to explain AHS, not yet have I seen mention that maybe it's all psychological, or worse, a hoax. I'm not saying that it is, but for something so easily faked or caused by insanity, instead of actual physical brain damage, those doctors seem awfully quick to say that brain damage is the cause.

Anna Gregoline | October 26, 2002
I wouldn't like to have it. I've heard the alien hand can even attack the person it belongs to.I don't think that doctors are being quick with it - they can probably confirm specific site damage with CT scans and other imaging techniques.

Scott Hardie | October 26, 2002
In doing more reading after I wrote that, I found a site that actually discusses it in clinical terms, not a site written by a layman with all kinds of speculation about whether the other half is some evil alternate personality that speaks to us in dreams and so on. So yes, it does seem to be a real medical condition, not psychological. Still, though, this sounds so much like a psychological disorder, doesn't it?