NeuroBIOlogy 403:
|
After surviving the introductory neurobiology courses and learning the basics of cellular/molecular mechanisms, organization and processing of neural systems, and neuroanatomy, this course was an interesting way to integrate these various levels of knowledge in order to understand behavior. We studied various types of behavior and focused heavily on learning and memory. Below is my paper for an assignment in which we were asked to chose a specific behavioral phenomenon and review the research that has been done in that field. I chose Xenomelia as my topic.
Excerpt:
Xenomelia, also known as Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID) or apotemnophilia, is a body image disorder characterized by the intense desire for the amputation of a healthy and functional limb that feels extraneous and foreign to the affected individual. The majority of xenomelia cases affect men in their left legs, and the onset is usually early in childhood or adolescence. Though long regarded as a psychological disorder, researchers have recently started to view xenomelia as neurologically-based. People with xenomelia seem to have normal functionality of visual, somatosensory, and pain afferents to the brain for their undesired limbs, indicating that the disorder is likely caused by a dysfunction of higher-level integration of these inputs into the brain’s representation of body image. Many researchers have begun examining dysfunction of the right parietal lobe as a possible mechanism for xenomelia, as this area is known to mediate other body image disorders. There is currently no effective treatment for xenomelia.
Xenomelia, also known as Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID) or apotemnophilia, is a body image disorder characterized by the intense desire for the amputation of a healthy and functional limb that feels extraneous and foreign to the affected individual. The majority of xenomelia cases affect men in their left legs, and the onset is usually early in childhood or adolescence. Though long regarded as a psychological disorder, researchers have recently started to view xenomelia as neurologically-based. People with xenomelia seem to have normal functionality of visual, somatosensory, and pain afferents to the brain for their undesired limbs, indicating that the disorder is likely caused by a dysfunction of higher-level integration of these inputs into the brain’s representation of body image. Many researchers have begun examining dysfunction of the right parietal lobe as a possible mechanism for xenomelia, as this area is known to mediate other body image disorders. There is currently no effective treatment for xenomelia.
Visit other pages on this pathway: