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molivares's picture

Restless Leg Syndrome and Corollary Discharge

In our talk on Tuesday about corollary discharge and phantom limb syndrome, I’ve come to wonder if corollary discharge is related to restless leg syndrome.  Restless leg syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by unpleasant sensations in the legs and an uncontrollable urge to move when at rest in an effort to relieve these feelings. The sensations are often described by people as burning, creeping, tugging, or like insects crawling inside the legs.  There have been no recent findings on what specifically causes restless leg syndrome, but it seems to me that it relates similarly to the role of corollary discharge in phantom limb syndrome. Since the cause of restless leg syndrome is unknown, there is has not been a cure for it. However, if restless leg syndrome does function similarly to phantom limb syndrome in terms of corollary discharge, perhaps the interventions used to treat phantom limb syndrome would be useful in treating restless leg syndrome as well?

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