Talk:Alien hand syndrome

message: I moved this to alien hand syndrome, as there is no reason for Hand and Syndrome to have capitals. Unfortunately, some Wikipedia lists have disease names that are all capitals. This is not justified. JFW | T@lk 16:11, 8 Jul 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Capitalization

message: Alien hand and anarchic hand are two distinct neurological conditions caused by lesions to different, though related, parts of the brain. The description of alien hand actually appears to mix both alien and anarchic hand.
In alien hand, a sufferer has normal sensation but lacks the sense of "ownership" of the affected limb i.e. they have an impaired sense of their own body.
In anarchic hand, a sufferer has a limb that appears to act without their will.
We need an expert opinion on this one.
I have written extensively about this condition and have described several cases in the medical literature.  It is my opinion that alien hand and anarchic hand are basically two different terms for the same syndrome. The original description by Brion and Jedynak in the French literature was:  "le signe de la main etrangere", so you can translate from there as you will.  The essential issue is the observation and description of the observed clinical phenomena which are really quite striking and difficult to mistake.  There are a large variety of different terms that have come to the fore (eg. diagonistic apraxia as a term for "intermanual conflict") but the variation in terminology just serves to obscure the essential observations of the behavior and, more importantly, the experience of the patient as gleaned from their introspective verbal reports of how the whole situation feels. [GG] Gary.goldberg.md (talk) 18:22, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Alien hand versus Anarchic hand 

message: I have added an extensive set of references to this article most of which are drawn from mainstream medical journals.  I would appreciate if we could now rescind the "warning" at the top of the page regarding a lack of references to reliable sources.  Thank you.  It is clear that this is now a well-accepted clinical observation that has been extensively observed and documented. [GG]  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gary.goldberg.md (talk • contribs) 22:15, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: References added to article

message: Is it accurate to say that Dr. Strangelove, in the movie of the same name, suffers from AHS?  I thought his "alien" hand was a spring-loaded prosthesis, not a natural hand he couldn't consciously control.67.158.79.211 00:26, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm pretty sure it was a gloved hand. cyclosarin 15:19, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

text: The movie was pretty accurate to the time period it was set in. I see no reason why that should have been a prosthetic limb at all. I don't recall anything that would imply it was supposed to be prosthetic.  --Nofxjunkee 21:20, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Strangelove 

message: I remember there was an A-Team episode where Murdock insisted his left hand "Lefty" to have a will of its own. I don't remember which episode it was though. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.202.167.25 (talk) 02:23, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: S03E21 “Waste ‘Em!” Synetech (talk) 23:53, 12 October 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  A-Team episode 

message: (the following quote is a spoiler about Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows)
In Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, the magical hand previously given to Wormtail by Voldemort to replace his severed hand strangles him to death when Wormtail betrays Voldemort.
Shouldn't this quote be removed or t a spoiler warning be written there? I am about to start reading the book and now I know more than I wanted to ...
:I don't think this really qualifies as much of a spoiler, as he's been reduced to a minor character in this book and his death is really pretty inconsequential. Also, his being killed by Voldemort for some reason or other isn't really all that unexpected.
:One other thing, remember to sign your posts in talk pages with four tildes. 216.228.20.138 23:33, 22 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Spoiler about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 

message: What the main character (Ijon Tichy) suffers is probably not exactly 'Alien hand syndrome'. His condition has been caused by military robots testing a new weapon which causes his brain hemispheres to disconnect. Mostly the book deals with something like I. T.'s subconcious and instincts controlling his left hand, and sometimes leg.
Mariusz "Kot" Butrykowski  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 157.25.158.97 (talk) 09:56, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  S. Lem's Peace on Earth referrence 

message: Can we remove the designation of this article as unreferenced? Gary.goldberg.md (talk) 18:25, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Not really. Although the list of references is helpful, the assertions made in the article need to be directly linked to specific sources. Blackmetalbaz (talk) 10:08, 29 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  The article now contains references to support the discussion 

message: Years ago I seem to recall a 1980s (?) PBS program on the mind by Philip Zimbardo that explored the perceptions of people with a split corpus callosum, whereby the subject's eyes are covered in such a way so that the left brain hemisphere registers one image, while the right hemisphere registers another.
* For one hemisphere, when shown an image, the person could say what they saw. When the other hemisphere was shown an image, the person said that they saw nothing.
* However, the hand of the hemisphere shown the image could draw a rough sketch, which the speaking side could then see, interpret, and then describe from the sketch.
It seems possible for communication with the "alien hand" to occur by placing a pencil in its grasp and asking questions, which can then be answered in visual form.
=== Pieces of Mind ===
: Scientific American Frontiers
: Season 7, Episode 3: Pieces of Mind, First Aired: 1997-01-22 
: 60-second preview video clip:
:: http://www.actadvantage.org/productPreview.do?no=10749S
: Supplements discussion of the structure and functions of the cerebral cortex. Features Dartmouth University’s Michael Gazzaniga, and Joe, an epileptic who had his corpus callosum severed to stop daily seizures. Cutting the corpus callosum prevented the spread of the seizures from Joe’s right hemisphere to his left, but it also prevented the two hemispheres from communicating with each other. Gazzaniga outlines his classic “split-brain” research paradigm. Hosted by Alan Alda.
===Smart but Lazy===
: http://www.indiana.edu/~pietsch/split-brain.html
: To the casual observer, the early split brain patients appeared perfectly normal. They could talk and read and had no problems recognizing the world about them. The seizures gone, they seemed happy, alert and healthy.
: Then Gazzaniga made a startling discovery. If the patient held up something like a comb or a coffee cup in his left hand, he couldn't speak its name. Transferred to the right hand -- no trouble at all. 
: (. . . .)
: The right cerebral hemisphere wasn't an imbecile, after all. It was highly intelligent. And it was still blessed with imagination and a sense of humor. Illiterate, true! And it was mute. But it was as nimble in abstract geometric logic as the dominant left cerebral hemisphere was with words. It had learned early in life to specialize in certain kinds of memory. And it was word- lazy. 
: Before the corpus callosum had been cut, if the right hemisphere needed a word, all it had to do was put in a call to the left side. Now it was on its own. It would have to learn to hang on to information coming in from the external world. Indeed, it could do that, too. Within six months, the right cerebral hemisphere was sell on its way to literacy. The day would come when a split brain patient might even read two completely different books at the very same time. In a world of words, the operation might have certain advantages. 
: DMahalko (talk) 21:33, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Speaking Mind vs the Silent Drawing Mind 

message: : http://www.indiana.edu/~pietsch/split-brain.html
: To the casual observer, the early split brain patients appeared perfectly normal. They could talk and read and had no problems recognizing the world about them. The seizures gone, they seemed happy, alert and healthy.
: Then Gazzaniga made a startling discovery. If the patient held up something like a comb or a coffee cup in his left hand, he couldn't speak its name. Transferred to the right hand -- no trouble at all. 
: (. . . .)
: The right cerebral hemisphere wasn't an imbecile, after all. It was highly intelligent. And it was still blessed with imagination and a sense of humor. Illiterate, true! And it was mute. But it was as nimble in abstract geometric logic as the dominant left cerebral hemisphere was with words. It had learned early in life to specialize in certain kinds of memory. And it was word- lazy. 
: Before the corpus callosum had been cut, if the right hemisphere needed a word, all it had to do was put in a call to the left side. Now it was on its own. It would have to learn to hang on to information coming in from the external world. Indeed, it could do that, too. Within six months, the right cerebral hemisphere was sell on its way to literacy. The day would come when a split brain patient might even read two completely different books at the very same time. In a world of words, the operation might have certain advantages. 
: DMahalko (talk) 21:33, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Smart but Lazy

message: Aha, here is the video with Philip Zimbardo, and it is from 1990. The program is 30 minutes long, and split-brain discussion occurs about 20 minutes into the program.
Video link: (requires registration)
http://www.learner.org/resources/series138.html?pop=yes&pid=1511#
Discovering Psychology: Updated Edition
Produced by WGBH Boston with the American Psychological Association. 1990, 2001. 
Highlighting major new developments in the field, this updated edition of Discovering Psychology offers high school and college students, and teachers of psychology at all levels, an overview of historic and current theories of human behavior. Stanford University professor and author Philip Zimbardo narrates as leading researchers, practitioners, and theorists probe the mysteries of the mind and body. Based on extensive investigation and authoritative scholarship, this introductory course in psychology features demonstrations, classic experiments and simulations, current research, documentary footage, and computer animation. This series is also valuable for teachers seeking to review the subject matter.
Episode 14. The Mind Hidden and Divided 
This program shows how experiences that take place below the level of consciousness alter our moods, bias our actions, and affect our health — as demonstrated in repression, discovered and false memory syndromes, hypnosis, and split-brain cases. With Dr. Jonathan Schooler of the University of Pittsburgh and Dr. Michael Gazzaniga of Dartmouth College. Updated. 
DMahalko (talk) 00:35, 15 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Discovering Psychology, Episode 14 

message: "Alien hands can perform complex acts such as undoing buttons, removing clothing, and manipulating tools." Might want to change this - sounds a little suggestive, Don't you think?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.234.228.206 (talk) 02:37, 27 May 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Indeed. I suggest moving "manipulating tools" so that it becomes the first example, to avoid the unintended perceived sequence. --Damiens.rf 17:11, 15 March 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bad Sounding... 

message: I removed this section out of the article. It is not the least "selected" but way out of control. The entries here are not direct references to the content, so it is more like a "Further reading" section. Please see Wikipedia:Further reading and put only entries that are topical, reliable and balanced, and please, keep the section limited in size. "Wikipedia is not a catalogue of all existing works." If you want to put a an entry back into the article, please motivate why. Thank you! Lova Falk talk 15:25, 20 October 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Selected references from medical literature

message: Someone added that Common has this syndrome. Where are your sources for this? Can this be verified?
I cannot find this mentioned in any other reports about Common, Glory, Diane Sawyer, etc. If its true, there should be some source.   — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2620:0:691:2325:25F7:E318:BDF4:88BA (talk) 17:31, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: I can't make any sense of this.  What is "Common"? Looie496 (talk) 22:45, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
thread_title: Cultural references

message: The article has the following line:
:[...] the occurrence of alien hand syndrome can be usefully conceptualized as a phenomenon reflecting a functional "disentanglement" between thought and action.
This does not assert any fact. It just says that it might be useful to conceptualise it in this way in order to better understand it. I can imagine that citation is needed for an objective statement, but this doesn't appear to be one. However, since this is an encyclopedia, does a subjective statement like this have any place in the article? If so, should it be replaced with something more clearly subjective? If not, should this statement be removed entirely, or should it be reworked into something more factual?
84.87.181.27 (talk) 16:29, 27 January 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  "it might be useful to conceptualise it in this way" 

message: The synonym "Dr. Strangelove syndrome" has been removed from the article.  I'm adding it back because it's a fairly widely used term (though not formal medical terminology).  If the NIH has no problem referring to it under that name (), I don't see why we should... AnonMoos (talk) 23:38, 22 March 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Sure, have it in the article, but IMO very unnecessary to put in the lead. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 06:53, 23 March 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: That's where important and significant alternate names or synonyms are supposed to go, according to Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lead section -- bolded in the first section. See "Mumbai, also known as Bombay" etc.  If there's any medical-specific policy which modifies this general policy, I'd be interested to know about it... AnonMoos (talk) 12:19, 23 March 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: And I say that the source you used indicate that this nickname exists and can be mentioned in the article (especially if you combine it with The Guardians "An early research paper had hoped to term it “Dr Strangelove’s syndrome” – after the film in which Peter Sellers has to repeatedly use his left hand to stop the right hand from making a Nazi salute – but the peer reviewers did not like this."), not that it is "important and significant". Note that your source use "alien hand syndrome" three times before mentioning the Dr., that doesn't support "important and significant". Interesting sidenote, more like. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 12:38, 23 March 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Just do a general Google search on "Dr. Strangelove syndrome" and peruse the first few pages of results, and you'll see that it's quite widely used in the media, in general reference works, etc.  It's almost certainly recognizable by a wider slice of the general English-speaking public than "Alien hand syndrome" is (though it's not quite so medically respectable/official, of course).  AnonMoos (talk) 16:23, 23 March 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: So, article-material, not lead-material. I think info-box is ok though. You only added it to the lead, also WP-error per WP:LEAD. I think "History" could be a good place to mention it per The Guardian Source. Or perhaps just expand pop-cult a little, that could work too. There's already a Dr Strangelove syndrome redirect, so that's done. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 18:16, 23 March 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: If "Dr. Strangelove syndrome" is more widely known and recognizable to the general public, then it could be considered the "common name", and by WP:COMMONNAME would be a contender for the title of this article.  For various reasons, I don't think it would be advisable to rename the article to "Dr. Strangelove syndrome", but if something is prominent enough to be be a viable alternate article title, then it would seem to be prominent enough to be bolded in the first paragraph of the article... AnonMoos (talk) 22:47, 23 March 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: That's a big if, and crappy google-hits comparisons hints it's really not, 83 900/10 700. Just because it's from a 1964 movie doesn't mean it's more recognizable to the general public. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 06:57, 24 March 2018 (UTC)

text: To have something to compare with: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is way closer to it's "nickname" 3 340 000 /1 120 000. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 09:33, 24 March 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm not sure how useful Google stats are in this case (unless someone can come up with a clever search pattern), since newspaper articles and such would be likely to mention the popular term "Dr Strangelove syndrome" and also the official medical term "Alien hand syndrome", while medical articles would be less likely to mention "Dr Strangelove syndrome" (though a few in fact do so, as I've pointed out).  Anyway, if Witzelsucht can mention 'The Joker Syndrome' in its lead section, this article should be able to mention "Dr Strangelove syndrome". AnonMoos (talk) 07:35, 26 March 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: We'll have to disagree to disagree. Witzelsucht mentions "Joker" only in the lead (crappy writing), less front and center than you put "Dr" here, and the two cites in the lead doesn't mention Joker or Batman (really crappy writing). We can do better. If you're going to compare with other articles, compare with good articles. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 14:15, 26 March 2018 (UTC)
thread_title: Synonym "Dr. Strangelove syndrome"

message: The concept of Alien Hand Syndrome is used in the Netflix animation Parasyte. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasyte  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sabinal17 (talk • contribs) 19:24, 20 January 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: @Sabinal17 Do you have a decent source, independent of the manga, that noticed this and bothered to write something about it? Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 21:19, 20 January 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: The concept seemed to mirror the concept Sabinal17 (talk) 23:05, 14 March 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Parasyte on Netflix