Every thirty seconds globally, a person loses his or her arm or leg due to amputation. Annually, more than one million people around the world undergo amputation surgery. In the United States alone, 185,000 people lose their limbs due to this type of surgery each year. Amputation may cause many problems in patients' daily lives since they have lost one or more of their limbs, which means that their motor ability will be significantly reduced. Interestingly, after the amputation, many patients report that they can still feel their amputated limb, which, of course, does not exist physically.

Junyi Wang. Phantom Limbs and Mirror Therapy: Brain Plasticity and Future Treatment for Brain Disorders and Injuries. Frontiers in Medical Science Research (2021) Vol. 3 Issue 4: 15-22. https://doi.org/10.25236/FMSR.2021.030404.

[1] 15 Limb LOSS Statistics That May Surprise You. 1 Mar. 2019, accessprosthetics.com/15-limb-loss-statistics-may-surprise/#:~:text=There%20are%202.1%20million%20people,amputations%20are%20performed%20every%20day. 

[2] Arnsten, Amy, et al. “This Is Your Brain in Meltdown.” Scientific American, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Apr. 2012, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4774859/. 

[3] Barbin, J., et al. “The Effects of Mirror Therapy on Pain and Motor Control of Phantom Limb in Amputees: A Systematic Review.” Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Elsevier Masson, 30 May 2016, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877065716300318?via%3Dihub. 

[4] Brookshire, Bethany. “Scientists Say: Cortical Homunculus.” Science News for Students, 3 Dec. 2019, www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/scientists-say-cortical-homunculus. 

[5] Campo-Prieto, P., and G. Rodríguez-Fuentes. “Efectividad De La Terapia De Espejo En El Dolor Del Miembro Fantasma. Una Revisión Actual De La Literatura.” Neurología, Elsevier Doyma, 14 Nov. 2018, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0213485318302019?via%3Dihub. 

[6] Collins, Kassondra L, et al. Hand-to-Face Remapping but No Differences in Temporal Discrimination Observed on the Intact Hand Following Unilateral Upper Limb Amputation. 20 Jan. 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5247470/. 

[7] “Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Fact Sheet.” National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Complex-Regional-Pain-Syndrome-Fact-Sheet#What%20is%20complex%20regional%20pain%20syndrome? 

[8] Goghari, Vina. Canadian Psychology. Canadian Psychological Association. 

[9] Gunduz, Muhammed Enes, et al. “Motor Cortex Reorganization in Limb Amputation: A Systematic Review of TMS Motor Mapping Studies.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 17 Mar. 2020, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2020.00314/full. 

[10] Katz, J. Phantom Limb. www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/phantom-limb#:~:text=The%20persisting%20sensory%20awareness%20of,approximately%2090%20percent%20of%20amputees. 

[11] Limb Loss Statistics. 13 Jan. 2015, www.amputee-coalition.org/limb-loss-resource-center/resources-filtered/resources-by-topic/limb-loss-statistics/limb-loss-statistics/. 

[12] Manchikanti, Laxmaiah, et al. “Phantom Pain Syndromes.” Pain Management, W.B. Saunders, 18 Sept. 2013, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780721603346500327. 

[13] MJ;, Ezendam D;Bongers RM;Jannink. “Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Mirror Therapy in Upper Extremity Function.” Disability and Rehabilitation, U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19903124/. 

[14] Ramachandran, V S. “Consciousness and Body Image: Lessons from Phantom Limbs, Capgras Syndrome and Pain Asymbolia.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 29 Nov. 1998, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1692421/. 

[15] Ramachandran, V. S. The Tell-Tale Brain: a Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human. W.W. Norton, 2012. 

[16] Ramachandran, V S, and W Hirstein. “Perception of Phantom Limbs. The D. O. Hebb Lecture.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 Sept. 1998, academic.oup.com/brain/article/121/9/1603/283360. 

[17] Rugnetta, Michael. “Phantom Limb Syndrome.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia, nd Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/science/phantom-limb-syndrome. 

[18] “Study Reveals Why the Brain Can't Forget Amputated Limbs, Even Decades Later.” The Conversation, 14 May 2019, theconversation.com/study-reveals-why-the-brain-cant-forget-amputated-limbs-even-decades-later-64693. 

[19] Weiss, Thomas C. “Hemiparesis - Types, Treatment, Facts and Information.” Disabled World, Disabled World, 17 Jan. 2017, www.disabled-world.com/health/neurology/hemiparesis.php.