AL's leg was amputated resulting in phantom-limb pain (PLP). (1) When a volunteer placed her foot on or near the phantom - touching it evoked organized sensations in corresponding locations on AL's phantom. (2) Mirror-visual-feedback (MVF) relieved PLP, as did, "phantom massage". (3) Psilocybin-MVF pairing produced synergistic effects, complete elimination of PLP, and reduction in paroxysmal episodes. (4) Touching the volunteer's leg where AL previously had external fixators, evoked sensation of nails boring through the leg. Using a "telescoping" nail, we created the illusion of a nail being removed with corresponding pain relief. (5) Artificial flames produced warmth in the phantom.
Synesthetes, who see printed black letters and numbers as being colored, are thought to have enhanced cross-activation between brain modules for color and form. Since the McCollough effect also results from oriented contours (i.e., form) evoking specific colors, we conjectured that synesthetes may experience an enhanced McCollough effect, and find that this is indeed true.
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