One of the best TED talks, in my opinion, was given by Vilayanur Ramachandran and it touches on this topic. It's a great presentation loaded with tidbits about how the brain works. Found here: https://www.ted.com/talks/vilayanur_ramachandran_on_your_min...
House (tv show) had an episode on this illusion as well, where House broke into an amputee's house, tied him up, and used the illusion to stop the amputee's phantom pain in his "hand".