A GOOD EXCUSE THE NEXT TIME YOU GET CAUGHT SHOPLIFTING

Ever heard of "Anarchic Hand"? Sounds cool, but you probably don't want it. Only 40 cases of this condition have been documented in which one hand seems to have a will of its own and "argues" with the other hand about things like which TV channel to watch or what to eat. Sergio Della Salla, professor of Neuropsychology at the University of Aberdeen, UK, has started to study this phenomenon in relation to our ideas of free will. "The patients are aware of the bizarre and potentially hazardous behaviour of their hand but have great difficulty inhibiting it," he says. "They often refer to the feeling that one of their hands behaves as if it has its own will but never deny that this capricious hand is part of their own body."