Roadmap for functional neurological disorders: Shared circuitry and future directions.

Abstract

Functional Neurological Disorders, or FND, have become accepted in the vernacular of medicine. Although in the past, they were considered less valid than other conditions, now they are present among the differential diagnoses of most illnesses in neurology and psychiatry. Diagnostic approaches have markedly changed as phenotypic profiles become more consistent. Treatment strategies include pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic techniques and have a burgeoning presence in medical literature. Above all, conceptualization of FND has advanced to a sophisticated perspective that incorporates neural circuitry and roles of default mode systems as well as salience networks in the brain. The progress made has been groundbreaking and represents a blossoming field, which will require that clinicians update their acumen accordingly.