By Milly Saber
Alien Hand Syndrome, also called Dr Strangelove syndrome, is not just a single condition, but instead a category of conditions that cause people to have partial or complete lack of control over their limbs, most commonly the left hand. Their limbs may reach for objects without the affected person wanting to do so. This can sometimes get to the point where the controllable hand may have to restrain the alien hand.
The syndrome is most often developed after a person has had the two hemispheres of their brain surgically separated. This procedure is most often done to relieve the symptoms of severe cases of epilepsy and epileptic psychosis. Alien Hand Syndrome also occurs in some cases after brain surgery, strokes, infections, tumors, aneurysms, migraines or more specific degenerative brain conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Until it is brought to their attention, or the behaviour of the affected hand attracts a person’s attention, sufferers are often unaware of what the alien hand is doing. The affected hand is often viewed as “wayward” or “disobedient” as it typically acts without voluntary control; the unaffected hand remains under voluntary control. For some sufferers, the hands appear to be acting in opposition to each other, especially in the cases of those who have damaged their corpus callosum — the part of the brain that connects the two cerebral hemispheres.
Personification of the affected hand is one way in which the sufferers of the syndrome deal with it; these names are usually negative.
An example of this was given by Rachelle Doody and Joseph Jankovic, who described a patient who had decided to name her affected hand “baby Joseph”. It was reported that, when the hand was “misbehaving” by engaging in playful, and sometimes troublesome activities, such as pinching her, the patient would tell “baby Joseph [to] stop being naughty”.
While demonstrating how disconnection between brain regions can result in Alien Hand Syndrome, the condition also highlights the brain’s complex control over movement and consciousness. It offers valuable insights into neurological function, especially regarding motor control, though the syndrome is rare.