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Questions about the peripheral nervous system
Questions about the peripheral nervous system
Treatment of phantom limb pain epq essay
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Limited understanding of phantom limbs hinders the effectiveness of treating phantom sensations and pain. There are several theories as to the causes of phantom limbs only two main areas central and peripheral nervous system. The main three treatments are cognitive-behavioral therapy with extinction, pharmaceuticals and mirror therapy. Cognitive-behavioral therapy retrains the brain to use extinction to perceive the limb is gone. Pharmaceuticals are the most common way of treating conditions and easier to show evidence. Mirror therapy is a newer and becoming commonly associated treatment for phantom limb pain. Cognitive-behavioral therapy shows promise with less risk of side effects by the two persuasive and evidence backed treatments.
Understanding the current theories holds the current approaches to treatments. The two main theories are divided into two groups: central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. Central nervous system concludes that the issues of phantom limb are due to the brain’s plasticity and remapping of the sensations (Moseley & Flor, 2012). The peripheral nervous system is damage and misread signals from the site of phantom to the brain. Growing support for the central nervous system as to the primary cause is from the fact that congenital missing limbs have no reason for miscommunication to the brain (Weeks, Anderson-Barnes & Tsao, 2010). Data is correlation based as to the ethical dilemma of removing a healthy limb from a human being. Understand why certain treatments work may give insight as to the underlying cause of phantom limb sensation.
Cognitive-behaviour therapy is based on the brain’s ability of neuroplasticity as to retrain the brain and learn extinction of the phantom limb. Treatment...
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...tion with other therapies rather than the long term treatment of pain. Cognitive-behaviour therapy seems to have less detrimental effects, though less evidence to support this treatment. More participants, testing different drugs in combination, and recognizing what therapies work from categorizing the underlying causes of phantom limb pain may hold the key into banishing these phantoms forever. Until then, cognitive-behaviour therapy appears to hold the best chance of rehabilitation with the least amount of detrimental effects.
Works Cited
Moseley, L.G., & Flor, H., (2012). Targeting Cortical Representations in the Treatment of
Chronic Pain: A Review. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, XX (X), 1–7. doi:10.1177/1545968311433209 Weeks, S.R., Anderson-Barnes, V.C., & Tsao, J.W., (2010). The Neurologist, 16 (5), 277-286.
doi:10.1097/NRL.0b013e3181edf128
Two ideas about the nervous system that can be better understood from these observations are the concepts of having and locating the I-function. It seems that the I-function here is very often affected in terms of voluntary movement. A person with Arnold-Chiari malformation who has lost the feeling in and control of his arm for example will not be able to move it even upon someone's request and his or her own desire to do so. Some use of the I-function is definitely impaired. However, these observations do not seem to necessarily imply that some part of the I-function was damaged, because it may very well be located elsewhere- connections may have simply been lost. A person with Arnold-Chiari can still think and have a sense of self, but somehow can not connect with the various body parts that can be affected. Some uses and pathways of the I-function can be understood, but the exact location of it remains vague.
Carr mentions the affect that technology has on the neurological processes of the brain. Plasticity is described as the brains response through neurological pathways through experiences. The brain regions “change with experience, circumstance, and need” (29). Brain plasticity also responds to experiences that cause damage to the nervous system. Carr explains that injuries in accidents “reveal how extensively the brain can reorganize itself” (29).I have heard stories in which amputees are said to have a reaction to their amputated limb; it is known as a phantom limb. These types of studies are instrumental in supporting the claim that the brain can be restructured. Carr asserts that the internet is restructuring our brains while citing the brain plasticity experiments and studies done by other scientists. I have experienced this because I feel like by brain has become accustomed to activities that I do on a regular basis. For example, I rarely realize that I am driving when coming to school because I am used to driving on a specific route.
Scientists are on the brink of doing the unthinkable-replenishing the brains of people who have suffered strokes or head injuries to make them whole again. If that is not astonishing enough, they think they may be able to reverse paralysis. The door is at last open to lifting the terrifying sentence these disorders still decree-loss of physical function, cognitive skills, memory, and personality.
... begin without the other, though the end result is far from the same ideal. Physical therapy can work with kinesiology in a way to take it into the light it belongs, and further the study from a more scientific approach. From that step forward, with more scientific study, the therapy may eventually hold its own and the results speak for themselves in the same way physical therapy has proven to be beneficial.
Hollon, S. D. & Beck, A. T. (2004). Cognitive and cognitive behavioral therapies. Bergin And Garfield’S Handbook Of Psychotherapy And Behavior Change, 5 pp. 447--492.
It is suggested that the link between neuroscience and behavior is the revolutionary technology and that clinicians accustomed with the essentials of these disciplines will be better prepared to "integrate pharmacological, behavioral, and social work technologies into a comprehensive treatment plan" (Ellinwood,
Historically, cognitive psychology was unified by an approach based on an resemblance between the mind and a computer, (Eysenck and Keane, 2010). Cognitive neuroscientists argue convincingly that we need to study the brain while people engage in cognitive tasks. Clearly, the internal processes involved in human cognition occur in the brain, and several sophisticated ways of studying the brain in action, including various imaging techniques, now exist, (Sternberg and Wagner, 1999, page 34).Neuroscience studies how the activity of the brain is correlated with cognitive operations, (Eysenck and Keane, 2010). On the other hand, cognitive neuropsychologists believe that we can draw general conclusions about the way in which the intact mind and brain work from mainly studying the behaviour of neurological patients rather than their physiology, (McCarthy and Warrington, 1990).
The two controversial topics discussed below share a single goal: to enhance the quality of life of a human individual. The first topic, transhumanism, is a largely theoretical movement that involves the advancement of the human body through scientific augmentations of existing human systems. This includes a wide variety of applications, such as neuropharmacology to enhance the function of the human brain, biomechanical interfaces to allow the human muscles to vastly out-perform their unmodified colleagues, and numerous attempts to greatly extend, perhaps indefinitely, the human lifespan. While transhumanist discussion is predominantly a thinking exercise, it brings up many important ethical dilemmas that may face human society much sooner than the advancements transhumanism desires to bring into reality. The second topic, elective removal of healthy limbs at the request of the patient, carries much more immediate gravity. Sufferers of a mental condition known as Body Integrity Identity Disorder seek to put to rest the disturbing disconnect between their internal body image and their external body composition. This issue is often clouded by sensationalism and controversy in the media, and is therefore rarely discussed in a productive manner (Bridy). This lack of discussion halts progress and potentially limits citizens' rights, as legislation is enacted without sufficient research. The primary arguments against each topic are surprisingly similar; an expansion on both transhumanism and elective amputation follows, along with a discussion of the merit of those arguments. The reader will see how limits placed on both transhumanism and elective amputation cause more harm to whole of human society than good.
Phantom pain refers to the phenomenal experience of pain in a body part that has been amputated or deafferented (Flor, Nikolajsen & Jensen, 2006). The characteristics of phantom pain have been described to occur in quick and sudden attacks of pain shooting up and down the amputated limb as well as cases of constant, excruciating pain whilst intensely perceiving the amputated limb to be cramped or postured abnormally (Katz, 1992). Approximately eighty percent of amputees report suffering from or at least experiencing some level of phantom pain post amputation; therefore it is a prominent issue (Flor, Nikolajsen & Jensen, 2006). Phantom pain is neuropathic pain that has no individual trigger but instead a plethora of psychobiological aspects of neuroplasticity that contribute to the cause of phantom pain (Grusser, Diers & Flor, 2003). The following will: outline the role of the peripheral and central factors associated with phantom pain and discuss the cortical reorganisation of the somatosensory cortex in relation to phantom pain.
Neurodevelopmental theory (NDT) informs clinical reasoning through the concepts of motor control, brain plasticity, motor learning and an understanding of functional human movement (Meadows & Williams, 2013). By identifying atypical movement patterns the therapist is able to select interventions, which will facilitate Sue in developing greater symmetry in her body and correct movement patterns. (Barthel, 2009; Feaver & Ezekiel, 2011). This influences the practice of interventions in NDT by applying moment-to-moment observations of Sue throughout treatment, in order to gage her reactions and adjusting interventions accordingly (Barthel, 2009). Barthel (2009) and Case-smith, Law, Missiuna, Pollock and Stewart (2010), defines NDT as a hand’s on approach to intervention, focusing on physically assisting Sue in the development of active and passive movement using key points of control during activities. This is used to facilitate Sue to engage in more normal movement patterns
R.M. Lehman & G.L. McCormack, 2001. Neurogenic and Myopathic Dysfunction pp. 802-803. In L. Pedretti and M Early Occupational Therapy Skills for Physical Dysfunction 5th ED St Louis MO: Mosby
Although the brain lies just below the surface of the human body, it has intrigued and puzzled neuroscientist for decades. …..There are numerous complex processes that are involved in brain recovery after attaining an injury or experiencing some sort of trauma. This essay will examine the concepts of neural networks, neuroplasticity and how exercise, surgery or therapy assist in the brain repair process by referring to a number of case studies.
Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy has its foundations in two distinctive therapeutic theories, Cognitive Therapy and Behavioural Therapy. Cognitive Therapy (CT) believes that thoughts, feelings and behaviour are connected. CT states and an individual with help; can identify an issue that is causing a behavioural or an emotional response and correcting that thinking to achieve a desired outcome. Behavioural Therapy believes that individual’s behaviour is due to conditioning during the early years of life and as such can be altered with conscious awareness. Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy is a combination of both of these theories and is based on an individual’s own history of thought an...
Sperry, R. W. (1982, September 24). Some Effects of Disconnecting the Cerebral Hemispheres. Science Megazine, 217, 1223-1226.
The Principles of Psychology. Toronto, Ontario: York University. L. R. Hochberg, M. D. (2006). Neuronal ensemble control of prosthetic devices in a human with tetraplegia. Nature, 164-71.