Relief from intractable phantom pain by combining psilocybin and mirror visual-feedback (MVF)
Neurocase March 4, 2018 Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, Chaipat Chunharas, Zeve Marcus et al. 63 citations
A person with an amputated leg and phantom-limb pain experienced organized sensations in their phantom when a volunteer's foot was placed on or near it. Mirror-visual-feedback and phantom massage reduced the pain. Pairing psilocybin with mirror-visual-feedback produced synergistic effects, completely eliminating phantom-limb pain and reducing paroxysmal episodes. Touching the volunteer's leg where the person previously had external fixators evoked a sensation of nails boring through the leg; using a telescoping nail created an illusion of nail removal with corresponding pain relief. Artificial flames produced warmth in the phantom.