People with alien hand syndrome aren't aware of what their hand is doing until he or she happens to notice. It's as though the hand is really a sort of alien being. (Luisfi, Wikimedia Commons)
Hands are an amazing part of the human body. In addition to being intricate and sensitive, they're very useful.
Not all people get to enjoy their hands, however, some have a neurological disorder called alien hand syndrome that causes them to lose control over their hands. The cause is usually some sort of brain damage. Injury to the fibers that connect the left and right halves of the brain can make your non-dominant hand make involuntary grasping motions.
Damage to the frontal lobe can cause the same result in the dominant hand. Unlike other brain problems, though, like a stroke, brain tumor or aneurysm, alien hand syndrome can make either hand do more complex things like button or undo buttons and take off clothes.
The truly strange thing is that the person isn't even aware of what the hand is doing until he or she happens to notice. It's as though the hand really is a sort of alien being.
People with AHS often think that the affected hand is possessed and don't recognize it as part of their body. Hands certainly are amazing, but they can be a bit scary, too.
