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Alien motor phenomena: a window on to agency
1University of Sheffield, Academic Department of Psychiatry, The Longley Centre, UK. S.A.Spence@Sheffield.ac.uk
Cognitive Neuropsychiatry
|March 31, 2006
Summary
Alien motor phenomena, involving conditions like anarchic limb and delusions of alien control, stem from impaired agency. These result from disinhibited motor centers or misattributed self-initiated movement, impacting neurological and psychiatric understanding.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Alien motor phenomena are observed in neurological and psychiatric disorders.
- These phenomena suggest the involvement of multiple, distributed brain systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review cognitive neurobiological accounts of alien/anarchic limb, somatoparaphrenia, and delusions of alien control.
- To describe the cognitive neuroanatomy of action and agency in healthy individuals.
Main Methods:
- Selective literature review.
- Focus on cognitive neurobiological models of passivity phenomena.
- Inclusion of normal action and agency neuroanatomy.
Main Results:
- Alien motor phenomena arise from impaired agency via two primary mechanisms.
- Mechanism 1: Disinhibition of lower motor centers leading to stereotypic movements (e.g., medial frontal, corpus callosum lesions).
- Mechanism 2: Disrupted perception of self-initiated movement, attributing control to external entities (e.g., right parietal lesions, schizophrenia).
Conclusions:
- Alien/anarchic limb dysfunction has plausible cognitive neurobiological explanations.
- Comprehensive understanding of delusions of alien control requires further research.
- Current models involve disturbed feed-forward mechanisms, imitation, and non-self attribution of agency.
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