Cutaneous rabbit illusion

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The cutaneous rabbit illusion is a phenomenon in which a somatosensory illusion of touch similar to that of a hopping rabbit is created by tapping two parts of the body which are in the same area. Experiments have been conducted in which a rapid succession of taps are deliverd first to the wrist, and then to the elbow. Subjects report the sensation of sequential taps hopping up the arm from the wrist to the elbow although no actual physical stimulus has been applied to the points of sensation experienced between the wrist and the elbow. This sensation has been likened to that of a rabbit hopping up the arm which is how the phenomenon got its name.

[edit] Sources

Cutaneous rabbit illusion affects human primary sensory cortex somatotopically, Medical Studies/Trials, 1-MAR-2006
Dingfelder, Sadie F. "Phantom Pain and the Brain." page 22, Monitor on Psychology. January, 2007, VOL. 38, NO. 1