Ok so you may have heard of a disorder called bimanual synkinesis or bimanual dystonia or mirror movement disorder.
Bimanual synkinesis (BS) is a neurological disorder.
It is caused when the neurons that allow brain signals to carry into the oppposite side of the body don’t flow into the same direction, meaning both parts of the body get the signal.
For example, moving a finger in your right hand will lead to the same finger in your left hand to move as well, as the impulse goes to both sides of the body.
The degree of disability for this disorder can be large; I have BS, and I only notice movements in fingers. When I was younger, however, these movements applied to arms and hands.
As a disorder, BS is fairly rare and not very well known.
I do actually have my own personal opinions about the disorder:
- brain fog: as a neurological disorder that involves signals being messed with due to damaged neurons, does it not make sense that brain fog is to be expected with some cases of this disorder?
- relation to other disorders: BS is linked to a disorder called synkinesis, which is where a voluntary action causes an involuntary action to be performed additionally - BS is a type of synkinesis. BS is also linked to disorders concerning late puberty. Finally, it is also (tentatively) linked to the autism spectrum.
BS is not known to affect intelligence. Motor coordination can be affected by BS, though for those with only a minor degree of BS, playing the piano or using a touch screen keyboard tends to be the only problem.
While overstimulation is not generally considered a part of BS, one should note that, like brain fog, a person with BS may also have other neurological oddities to be aware of, such as an inclination towards overstimulation.
Advice for Allies
- bear with us …. we can’t help it if our hands can’t cooperate
- don’t make fun of us …. yes, our hands may decide to mimic the other hand. That doesn’t mean you get to mock us :/
- be supportive … while there isn’t much support to offer, just occasionally reassure us that everything is okay, that we’re not freaks of nature. Also be prepared for brain fog mixed with frustration :/
Ok so that’s all I have to say about Bimanual Synkinesis. I hope this post was informative and even if you never meet anybody with the disorder, at least you learnt something new ;)
