NEUROPHYSIOLOGY

By Sawiji Amani
Mobile phone: 081 328 028333
E-mail: sawijiamani@gmail.com
Basic Sciences Department
Muhammadiyah Gombong University
Central Java Indonesia

17/12/16

Nervous system organization

Phantom Limb Sensation

(Tortora & Derrickson, 2006:552)

Patients who have had a limb amputated

may still experience sensations such as
itching, pressure, tingling, or pain as if the
limb were still there.
This phenomenon is called Phantom
Limb Sensation.
Why so?

Some Explanations
(Tortora & Derrickson, 2006:552)

1. The cerebral cortex interprets impulses arising

in the proximal portions of sensory neurons that
previously carried impulses from the limb as
coming from the nonexistent (phantom) limb.
2. The brain itself contains networks of neurons
that generate sensations of body awareness.
3. Neurons in the brain that previously received
sensory impulses from the missing limb are still
active, giving rise to false sensory perceptions.

(Tortora & Derrickson, 2006:552)

Phantom limb can be very distressing to

an amputee.
Many report that the pain is severe or
extremely intense, and that it often does
not respond to traditional pain medication
therapy.
In such cases, alternative treatments may
include electrical nerve stimulation,
acupuncture, and biofeedback.

Analgesia: Relief from Pain

(Tortora & Derrickson, 2006:553)

Pain sensations sometimes occur out of

proportion to minor damage, persist chronically
due to an injury, or even appear for no obvious
reason.
In such cases, analgesia (an- = without;
-algesia = pain) or pain relief is needed.
Analgesic drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen
(for example, Advil or Motrin) block formation of
prostaglandins, which stimulate nociceptors.

(Tortora & Derrickson, 2006:553)

Local anesthetics, such as Novocaine, provide
short-term pain relief by blocking conduction of
nerve impulses along the axons of first-order
pain neurons.
Morphine and other opiate drugs alter the quality
of pain perception in the brain; pain is still
sensed, but it is no longer perceived as being so
noxious.
Many pain clinics use anticonvulsant and anti
depressant medications to treat those suffering
from chronic pain.