#96: La mano 'alien' tras un daño cerebral episode artwork

EPISODE · May 2, 2026 · 45 MIN

#96: La mano 'alien' tras un daño cerebral

from Hemispherics

La mano alien es uno de esos fenómenos neurológicos que obligan a replantearse qué significa realmente “controlar” una acción: pacientes cuya mano no está paralizada, pero tampoco les obedece, realizando movimientos con apariencia intencional que surgen fuera de su voluntad e incluso interfieren con la otra mano. En este episodio utilizamos este cuadro tan llamativo como clínicamente revelador para ir mucho más allá del síntoma y explorar cómo el cerebro construye la acción, integrando intención, ejecución y percepción dentro de una red compleja que, cuando se desorganiza, rompe la coherencia entre lo que queremos hacer y lo que finalmente ocurre. Desgranamos los distintos fenotipos —frontal, calloso y parietal— como expresiones de fallos en nodos específicos de esa red, analizamos su base neurofisiológica y aterrizamos todo esto en la clínica. Cómo reconocer la mano alien, cómo valorarla desde la fenomenología y la interacción con el entorno, y qué estrategias terapéuticas pueden tener sentido en función del mecanismo predominante. Un episodio que no solo explica un síndrome raro, sino que abre una ventana para entender que el movimiento no es simplemente contraer músculos, sino construir continuamente la experiencia de ser quien actúa. Referencias del episodio: 1.     Biran, I., Giovannetti, T., Buxbaum, L., & Chatterjee, A. (2006). The alien hand syndrome: What makes the alien hand alien?. Cognitive neuropsychology, 23(4), 563–582. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643290500180282 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21049344/). 2.     Bru, I., Verhamme, L., de Neve, P., & Maebe, H. (2021). Rehabilitation of a Patient with Alien Hand Syndrome: a Case Report of a 61-Year Old Man. Journal of rehabilitation medicine. Clinical communications, 4, 1000050. https://doi.org/10.2340/20030711-1000050 (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8054745/). 3.     Di Pietro, M., Russo, M., Dono, F., Carrarini, C., Thomas, A., Di Stefano, V., Telese, R., Bonanni, L., Sensi, S. L., Onofrj, M., & Franciotti, R. (2021). A Critical Review of Alien Limb-Related Phenomena and Implications for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies. Frontiers in neurology, 12, 661130. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2021.661130 (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8458742/). 4.     Feinberg, T. E., Schindler, R. J., Flanagan, N. G., & Haber, L. D. (1992). Two alien hand syndromes. Neurology, 42(1), 19–24. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.42.1.19 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1734302/). 5.     Graff-Radford, J., Rubin, M. N., Jones, D. T., Aksamit, A. J., Ahlskog, J. E., Knopman, D. S., Petersen, R. C., Boeve, B. F., & Josephs, K. A. (2013). The alien limb phenomenon. Journal of neurology, 260(7), 1880–1888. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-013-6898-y (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23572346/). 6.     Haq, I. U., Malaty, I. A., Okun, M. S., Jacobson, C. E., Fernandez, H. H., & Rodriguez, R. R. (2010). Clonazepam and botulinum toxin for the treatment of alien limb phenomenon. The neurologist, 16(2), 106–108. https://doi.org/10.1097/NRL.0b013e3181a0d670 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20220444/). 7.     Hassan, A., & Josephs, K. A. (2016). Alien Hand Syndrome. Current neurology and neuroscience reports, 16(8), 73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-016-0676-z (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27315251/). 8.     Lewis-Smith, D. J., Wolpe, N., Ghosh, B. C. P., & Rowe, J. B. (2020). Alien limb in the corticobasal syndrome: phenomenological characteristics and relationship to apraxia. Journal of neurology, 267(4), 1147–1157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-019-09672-8 (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7109196/). 9.     Ma, Y., Liu, Y., Yan, X., & Ouyang, Y. (2023). Alien hand syndrome, a rare presentation of corpus callosum and cingulate infarction. Journal of the neurological sciences, 452, 120739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jns.2023.120739 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37536055/). 10.  Mark V. W. (2025). Alien Hand: Current Research Trends. Current neurology and neuroscience reports, 25(1), 63. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-025-01449-z (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12449344/). 11.  Park, Y. W., Kim, C. H., Kim, M. O., Jeong, H. J., & Jung, H. Y. (2012). Alien hand syndrome in stroke - case report & neurophysiologic study -. Annals of rehabilitation medicine, 36(4), 556–560. https://doi.org/10.5535/arm.2012.36.4.556 (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3438424/). 12.  Romano, D., Sedda, A., Dell'aquila, R., Dalla Costa, D., Beretta, G., Maravita, A., & Bottini, G. (2014). Controlling the alien hand through the mirror box. A single case study of alien hand syndrome. Neurocase, 20(3), 307–316. https://doi.org/10.1080/13554794.2013.770882 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23557374/). 13.  Sarva, H., Deik, A., & Severt, W. L. (2014). Pathophysiology and treatment of alien hand syndrome. Tremor and other hyperkinetic movements (New York, N.Y.), 4, 241. https://doi.org/10.7916/D8VX0F48 (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4261226/). 14.  Sellal, F., Cretin, B., Musacchio, M., Berthel, M. C., Carelli, G., & Michel, J. M. (2019). Long-lasting diagonistic dyspraxia suppressed by rTMS applied to the right motor cortex. Journal of neurology, 266(3), 631–635. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-018-09178-9 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30631917/). 15.  Wolpe, N., Moore, J. W., Rae, C. L., Rittman, T., Altena, E., Haggard, P., & Rowe, J. B. (2014). The medial frontal-prefrontal network for altered awareness and control of action in corticobasal syndrome. Brain : a journal of neurology, 137(Pt 1), 208–220. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awt302 (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3891444/). 16.  Wolpe, N., Hezemans, F. H., & Rowe, J. B. (2020). Alien limb syndrome: A Bayesian account of unwanted actions. Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior, 127, 29–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2020.02.002 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32155475/).

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