Tactile Phantom Illusion

Follow the directions below to experience a striking "phantom limb" (or, perhaps we should say, phantom pencil) illusion.


Gently pull your upper lip in one direction, and your lower lip in the opposite direction.


Now insert a pencil centrally between your twisted lips...


You'll experience a "tactile illusion" in which it seems that two pencils are jutting out between your lips.


Could this phenomenon be related to the "ghost limb" sensation felt after surgical limb removal?

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