Knowra Functional neurological disorder Functional neurological disorder Functional neurological disorder (FND) causes genuine changes in movement, sensation, or other neurological functions that are diagnosed through positive clinical signs rather than structural disease alone.
Functional weakness : A loss of limb strength caused by functional neurological disorder, identified by characteristic examination signs. Signs such as Hoover’s sign reveal inconsistency between voluntary movement and preserved automatic movement.
Neurological examination : A clinical assessment of nervous-system function using tests of movement, sensation, reflexes, coordination, and cognition. FND diagnosis relies on specific examination findings, not merely normal test results.
FND diagnosis : The clinical identification of functional neurological disorder from characteristic symptoms and positive examination signs. A clear, evidence-based diagnosis can explain symptoms without claiming they are imagined.
Conversion disorder : A psychiatric diagnostic label historically applied to neurological symptoms understood as expressions of psychological conflict. It is an older term for FND in some diagnostic systems, but its psychological assumptions are not required for FND diagnosis.
Functional movement disorder : A functional neurological disorder involving abnormal movements such as tremor, jerks, or gait disturbance. Movement symptoms can vary with attention or tasks in diagnostically informative ways.
Positive signs : Observable clinical findings that support a diagnosis by demonstrating a characteristic pattern. Positive signs distinguish FND from diagnoses made only after other diseases are excluded.
FND treatment : A tailored approach to functional neurological disorder that may combine education, rehabilitation, and psychological therapy. Treatment is individualized and commonly targets symptom-specific changes in movement or attention.
Malingering : The intentional production or exaggeration of symptoms for an external incentive. FND symptoms are not assumed to be deliberately produced; the diagnosis rests on clinical findings.
Hoover's sign : An examination sign in which involuntary hip extension reveals preserved strength despite apparent weakness in the opposite leg. It demonstrates a positive sign used to diagnose functional leg weakness.
Structural brain disease : Neurological illness caused by identifiable damage or abnormality in brain tissue. FND symptoms are not defined by a corresponding structural lesion, though both conditions can coexist.
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