How deeply does the patient believe his own denials or confabulations? Could it be some sort of surface facade or even an attempt at malingering? To answer this question, I devised a simple experiment.
I placed a large cocktail tray supporting six plastic glasses half filled with water in front of patients with denial syndrome. Now if I asked you to reach out and grab such a tray, you would place one hand under either side of the tray and proceed to raise it. But if you had one hand tied behind your back, you would naturally go for the middleof the tray-its center of gravity-and lift from there. When I tested stroke patients who were paralyzed on one side of their body but did not sufffer from denial, their non paralyzed hand went straight for the middle of the tray, as expected.
When I tr... (查看原文)
The most obvious fact about existence is your sense of being a single, unified self "in charge" of your destiny; so obvious, in fact, that you rarely pause to think about it. And yet Dr. Aglioti's experiment and observations on patients like Diane suggest that there is in fact another being inside you that goes about his or her business without your knowledge or awareness. And, as it turns out, there is not just one such zombie but a multitude of them inhabiting your brain. If so, your concept of a single "I" or "self" inhabiting your brain may be simply an illusion -- albeit one that allows you to organize your life more efficiently, gives you a sense of purpose and helps you interact with others. ... (查看原文)
还没人写过短评呢