The effects of sensory input and concentration on post-amputation phantom limb pain

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Abstract
Four subjects who had experienced phantom limb pain for periods of 3 to 8 years were exposed to a wide range of sensory distractions while working intently on a designated task. It was thought that a successful blocking of all sensory stimuli not related to the task at hand would also block the phantom sensations. Sensory distraction, as a means of modifying sensations did, in the course of the experiment, temporarily disperse phantom limb and stump pain. The changes were in the apparent size, intensity and component parts of the phantom limb sensation. Similar alterations were found in a patient who previously had experienced only stump pain.