VR Cures Amputees' Phantom Limb Pain

An anonymous reader writes, "Scientists have developed a virtual world like Second Life where real-life amputees have their limbs restored. The experience can cure patients of the perception of pain in their missing limbs. From the article: 'The machine is designed to combat phantom limb pain (PLP) — a sensation of pain experienced by an amputee that appears to originate in the missing limb. Intriguingly, researchers have discovered that if a person's brain can be tricked into believing they can see and move a "phantom limb," this motion reduces the perception of pain in PLP.' The graphics used by the computer look very crude, almost comically so, but apparently the system works."

Comments

Re:Mirrors in a Box

[itchy92]

The doctor is V.S. Ramachandran, and his work is fascinating. His book on phantom limb syndrome and other psychological conditions is called _Phantoms_in_the_Brain_, and it's thoroughly enjoyable; an easy read (especially if you have no previous exposure to the field), but not so dumbed down as to insult your intelligence. He frequently uses very simple approaches to diagnosing and studying these cases.

His newer book is called _A_Brief_Tour_of_Human_Consciousness_, which deals with some of the same issues, but also introduces his more recent studies.

/Not a shill
//Just a fan of brain disorders
///that doesn't sound right