Sitting in a wheelchair, a Nazi scientist was trying to control one of his hands. It was a constant struggle between two extremities to appease involuntary, anarchic movements.
This is how Stanley Kubrick reflected Doctor Strangelove in the film red phone? We fly to Moscow a political satire focused on anti-war and that included the suffering of a mysterious disease in the aforementioned character.
In 1909, the German doctor Kurt Goldstein first described what is now known as the Alien Hand Syndrome, although after the success of Kubrick’s film it was also called Dr. Strangelove syndrome.
The prominent filmmaker was so struck by the rareness of the disease that he decided to use it in one of his films, precisely in this one from 1964. Until today, this condition continues to be a mystery to science, although much has been discovered about it.
It is a rare neurological disorder that causes those affected to have a complete lack of control over one of their hands.
In 2014, a study carried out on 150 patients showed that the syndrome is associated with damage to the right parietal cortex of the brain, and that it disconnects it from other cortical areas, in such a way that the left hand is usually the alien or non-dominant hand.
In SMA, the patient feels that his limb acts autonomously, developing involuntary movements that appear to be intentional. It is then that it conflicts or even rivals the opposite limb.
Several specialists indicate that vascular accidents are the first cause of this syndrome. The foreign hand sign can be found as an accompanying symptom in various conditions and entities of diverse etiology. Most of the cases described involve cerebral accidents of ischemic or hemorrhagic etiology.
For example, SMA patients may open doors that are in their way or compulsively handle objects without intending to and be unable to control their hand.
It may also be the case that the patient holds a glass with someone else’s hand and a piece of bread with his right and tries to bring them to his mouth at the same time.
Experts point out that the disease can reach such a point that the patient is not even aware of the movements he makes. Even reaching the point that the hand is truly alien to him, as if it did not belong to his body, despite retaining sensitivity in it.
There is currently no cure for this syndrome, although in some cases it may disappear as the patient recovers from the brain injury that caused it. It has also been shown that there are therapies, similar to those performed on soldiers who have lost limbs, that can help control symptoms.
