1. Case Studies Ramachandran and his research on Phantom Limbs.
The case of HM and his 30 second memory

2. Introduction to phantom limb
Ramachandran
Who is he?
Introduction to phantom limb
How does it work?

3. Phantom Limb
People lose body parts and still feel a sensation in the missing limb
Chronic phantom pain happens to 2/3 of the patients
Can be dangerous because patients commit to extreme methods to remove the pain

4. The Phantom Limb study
Ramachandran had a theory about the so called phantom pain or sensation the missing limb could feel
Based the study believing there was a map connected to each body part
Once a body part was amputated the sensory inputs where removed
Meaning that touching the same side of the face as the missing limb could give sensations or in some cases pain in the missing limb

5. The Experiment
Tested his theory by blindfolding his patients in this case a mid 40’s man whom lost an arm
Poked the patient with a stick on various body parts
Poked the man in the stomach
Poked the man in the cheek , the same side of the face as the missing limb is
Absence of the limb the brain rewrote the map previously linked to the arm

6. Penfield Homunculus

7. Why did he feel a sensation in his missing arm when he was being touched in his face?

8. Solution to phantom limb sensation
Put the patients in front of a mirror

9. 30 second memory
The case of patient HM, one of the most important case studies for the study of memory

10. Patient HM
Suffered from a brain injury at a young age which caused him to have epileptic seizures.
Had an operation at age 27 which left him with severe damage to his brain.
After that, HM almost completely lost the ability to create new memories, and he was forever stuck as a 27 year old.

11. A comparison between HM and a normal brain
Temporal lobe injury.
Medial temporal lobes practically gone.
Damaged hippocampus & amygdala.
A comparison between HM and a normal brain

12. Could still remember certain things, with the help of association.
Could not create new vivid memories.