I have no arms, but I can still feel them?

Did you know that 60 to 80 percent of people who have lost a limb report having feeling, mostly painful, in the place where their appendage once was? This is known as Phantom Limb Syndrome.

So how does this happen?

When we are born, our brains have somewhat of a blueprint of our bodies and each part of the body has a corresponding part of the brain that perceives touch, or pain in this instance. When the neurons in the part of the brain that controlled ones absent limb are inactive for a long time, the neighboring regions of the brain begin to expand and fill that void. This is known as neural plasticity. When these regions of the brain that have now expanded are activated, it will trigger a sensation in the phantom limb. Psychologist Vilayanur Ramachandran was able to demonstrate this phenomenon when he allowed for a woman to feel sensation in 5 phantom fingers after she had lost her hand; however, she only ever had 4 fingers.