Intentional motor phantom limb syndrome

Abstract

A preserved sense of agency provided by intact premotor processes translating intention into action may lead to the vivid feeling of movement in a paralyzed limb, similar to kinesthetic illusions in amputees. The interruption of thalamic afferences may explain the persistence and stability of the phantom by preventing any correction of the mismatch between expected and effective movement. The increased blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal in the basal ganglia-thalamus-cortex pathway during movement of the supernumerary hand may reflect an abnormal closed-loop functioning of the thalamocortical system underlying the phantom phenomenon.