Neurologist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran presented his theories on the inner workings of the brain during his speech Wednesday, which was part of the Distinguished Lecture Series.
Ramachandran, director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego, spoke about some of his investigations on phantom limbs, synesthesia and other brain disorders.
Ramachandran discussed his trials dealing with patients who suffer from phantom limb pain.
He said, typically before surgery, the limb awaiting amputation was cramped and immobile, causing pain. In the brain, sensory input from the hand occurs next to input from the arm, creating the illusion that an amputated limb is still there and in that same cramped and painful position.
According to Ramachandran, the sensation of a phantom limb is due to a complex and closely related mapping system in the brain dealing with movement, feeling and pain.
""The problem is, the pain is in the brain,"" he said.
Ramachandran explained the simple procedure he uses to treat patients whose brains still believe an amputated limb exists. Only therapy involving a mirror and the most basic movements are used to reduce phantom limb pain and possibly even paralysis in stroke victims.
""The patient puts the phantom limb behind the left side of the mirror, and the right limb on the right side of mirror and looks at the reflection, creating the visual illusion that the phantom limb is there,"" he said.
When Ramachandran's mirror box treatment is completely successful, patients believe the limb is no longer cramped and the pain is gone. In some patients the phantom limb sensation even disappears entirely.
Ramachandran also discussed his studies on Synesthesia, a condition in which a person views black and white numbers as though they produced colors. Like phantom limbs, he believes that regions in the brain that are close together, such as shape and color, cross-activate simultaneously to produce multiple sensations at once.
The Distinguished Lecture Series at the Memorial Union is responsible for bringing in seven to ten high-profile speakers every year. The series will continue on March 24th when Vandana Shiva, a leader in the International Forum on Globalization, discusses food insecurity, peak oil and climate change.
