Out on a (Phantom) Limb: Variations on the Theme: Stability of Body Image and the Golden Section

The essay argues that readaptation to perceptual distortions—such as those from prism spectacles—is a general phenomenon also underlying phantom limb pain. Psychodysleptic drugs like psilocybin, LSD, and mescaline interfere with this readaptation, as shown by a measured loss of about 2 prism diopters in correcting distorted visual space in college-age volunteers 100–110 minutes after oral psilocybin. Phantom sensations are described as kinesthetic hallucinations, and body image is considered a cognitive schema. The work explores connections among body image stability, drug-induced distortions, and the golden section.

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Abstract

OUT ON A (PHANTOM) LIMB VARIATIONS ON THE THEME: STABILITY OF BODY IMAGE AND THE GOLDEN SECTION And man created God in his own body image. ROLAND FISCHER* Psychodysleptic Drug-inducedInterference with Readaptation to Distortions It is by now well known that wearing prism spectacles results in a variety ofperceptual distortions which, however, gradually disappear within a period oftime [i, 2, 3], the length ofwhich depends upon the subject and the type of distortion used. This "perceptual constancy" [4], called a transformation of invariants by Gibson [5], is regarded by many as a sensorimotor readaptation to seeing the world as "it should be." According to Bossom and Held [6], Held, Efstathiou, and Greene [7], and Bossom and Ommaya [8], adaptation evolves through visually produced motor change with information derived from visual parallax cues upon head and neck movements. There is another type ofreadaptation, although in this case instantaneous, I assert, which attempts to correct distortions produced by our own biological lenses. Whenever we change our position after * Department ofPsychiatry, Division of Behavioral and Neurobiological Sciences, Ohio State University College ofMedicine, Columbus, Ohio 43210. During the writing ofthis manuscript I was assisted by grant 66-341 ofthe Foundations' Fund for Research in Psychiatry, U.S. Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, General Research Support Grants, administered by the Ohio State University College of Medicine and Comly Coleman Fund. When I was postulating that psychodysleptic drugs should alleviate phantom phenomena, Dr. Erling Eng, Lexington, Kentucky, kindly and promptly called to my attention that Kuromaru and associates have already proven my point; I thank him forthis and for his most stimulating discussions. I am also indebted to Dr., Dr. h. c. Albert Hofmann, Basel, for generously providing the English translation oftheJapanese paper. I am sincerely grateful to Dr. Warren S. McCulloch, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for the opportunities to discuss with him largely unpublished and invaluable material on aesthetic preference and the golden section; to Dr. Richard M. Hill for his critical reading ofthe manuscript; and to Sonja Schräg for her creative assistance. And last but not least it is a pleasure to express my appreciation to Dr. Ian Gregory for his interest and support, and for creating and maintaining a spirit in the Division so conducive to research. This essay is affectionately dedicated to Dr. Chauncey D. Leake, San Francisco. 259 viewing a picture from a position far removed from its center ofperspective , the picture does not by any means appear as deformed as might be expected [9]. Readaptation to distortions occurs, however, not only in vision but also, for example, when hearing is spatially distorted by means of"pseudophonic" systems [10]. Among the most recently discovered effects ofpsychodysleptic, hallucinogenic drugs, such as psilocybin, LSD, and mescaline, is their ability, through ergotropic excitation, to interfere with readaptation phenomena [11]. The extent ofinterference can be determined by measuring with a phorometer the loss of compensation for optically induced distortions. The method consists ofasking subjects to view a black line 16 cm. long on a white (250-m. candle) background at a distance of40 cm. and to report the first deviation (bending) of the line from "flatness," while prism power is added uniformly before both eyes by counterrotating prisms. At drug peak, that is, 100-110 minutes after the oral administration of 160-200 jug/kg psilocybin to college-age volunteers, the average loss of ability to correct distorted visual space amounts to approximately 2 prism diopters (?) (seeFig. 1). In short, readaptation to distortions is significantly diminished under the influence ofa psychodysleptic drug. Phantom Limb Pain: A Readaptation Phenomenon It could be argued that readaptation to distortions in perception is but an example ofa more general phenomenon: the readaptation to distortions ofspace, body image, and related phantom phenomena. Corporeal awareness and body image are usually thought ofas Head's [12, 13] cognitive schema ofthe body, that is, a postural or spatial model, a "base ofoperations " from which a person can extend himselfinto space through motor performance [14]. ForDelay andPichot, phantom sensations are kinesthetic hallucinations [15], a description which incidentally agrees quite well with our general definition ofhallucinations: "intensely active sensations with blocked motor manifestations" [i6].' Actually, corporeal awareness and body image stand for two...