PHANTOM FACE - CONSCIOUS CORRELATE OF NEURAL REORGANIZATION AFTER REMOVAL OF PRIMARY SENSORY NEURONS

A patient in whom mandibular and maxillary parts of right trigeminal g anglion were removed experienced referred sensations after stimulation of the right hand and right forehead. She described them either as pa rallel to the perception at the actual stimulation site or as coming u niquely from a (non-existent) stimulation of denervated territory. The latter occurred in 6-19% of stimulations performed on the right foreh ead and on digits 1, 3 and 4 of the right hand. Thumb stimulations wer e localized on the right side of the face, stimulations of right foreh ead, middle and ring fingers more precisely on right cheek. Referred s ensations were present on postoperative day 7 and had a more real-like quality than 5 days later.