In the brain, a lost limb is never really gone

A rare circulatory problem required Emily Wheldon to have her left arm amputated three years ago. Her brain still thinks it’s there.

“Most days, it just feels like I’ve got my arm next to me,” she says.

The perception is so compelling that Wheldon had to train herself not to rely on the missing limb.

“When I first had the amputation,” she says, “I was trying to put my arm out to stop myself from falling.”

A Sense Of Self: What Happens When Your Brain Says You Don’t Exist

In his new book, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Anil Ananthaswamy examines the ways people think of themselves — and how those perceptions can be distorted by certain brain conditions.

Now, a study of Wheldon and two other people with arm amputations may help explain why they are living with phantom limbs.

Brain scans