Tom Plender

Just over 2 weeks left to submit your abstracts to the @fndsociety.bsky.social for the biannual FND international conference in Baltimore!

Do come & support this new society for what must be medicine’s oldest & most enigmatic disorder!

@https://www.fndsociety.org/biennial-meeting/2026/abstract

This is great - a really nice overview of recent FND network studies, and a friendly introduction to predictive processing theory in FND 🙌

Too bad these conditions are among the most stigmatized, and so the least researched

(This goes for FND too!)

Sometimes it feels like a real “we’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas” kind of situation

New @aanmember.bsky.social guidelines for the management of functional seizures led by Ben Tolchin. A landmark for people with FND worldwide.

✅Rigorous evidence-based process
✅Consensus practical recommendations
✅Endorsed by @fndsociety.bsky.social

www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/...

Screenshot of the front page of an article published in the journal Social and Cultural Geography called Remapping the body: an autoethnography of pain, paraesthesia, and the co-production of functional neurological symptoms

New paper outlining a spatial account of #FND and proposing an approach to the co-production of functional symptoms. It draws on my longstanding work on geographies of health knowledges, my recent health experiences, and emerging interdisciplinary conversations www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Such a superb, insightful & brave paper from @gailfdavies.bsky.social who so eloquently captures and describes what many of us have noticed about the evolution of symptoms as a result of patients’ interactions with the medical system👏👏💪🏻💪🏻

Straight into my top 10 of best papers ever on FND👌👌

Reclaiming FND for Rehabilitation Medicine – new open access editorial

Neurorehab colleague Phil Milburn-McNulty and I set out why Rehab Medicine is so well-suited to treating FND, why they historically haven’t and what can be done to change things.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

As this year closes, hope may not feel loud or triumphant. It may be quiet, tender, or barely noticeable. It may be found in rest, self-kindness, or making it through one more day. If this year took more than it gave, know you are still worthy. Feather-light hope is still singing within you. #fnd

How gratifying that this is finally out!

And what a pleasure to colllaborate on this.

I hope it’s a real step forward for clinical care of people w func seizures.

Also a wonderful learning experience for me personally - extremely rigorous methodology thnx to Maryam Oskoui and co-authors

Dr Mark Halley, photo from NIH web site

I'm heartbroken to learn of the passing of Dr. Mark Hallett.

A few thoughts in remembrance…

An important study (IMO) looking at social dynamics re: FND on Twitter.

People w FND face continual attack by a variety of groups who dismiss our condition and experiences - ranging from abusive clinicians to other disabled people.

It makes it even harder to exist in public with this dx.

A canvas sign advertising the 36th International Epilepsy Congress in Lisbon, Portugal

Hey folks.

ILAE's International Epilepsy Congress is now concluded (great meeting!), so I thought I'd share a few highlights from my talk on Functional / Dissociative Seizures (FDS).

The full talk (and recording) belong to ILAE, but here are some of the key points!

Thankyou that means a lot 😁🙏

Thanks dude, that’s really kind 🙏

I know what I’m reading this weekend! 😎

Thanks 🙏 - wasn’t sure if this is technically correct as I’m not a neuroscientist, just a musician trying to make sense of all this stuff!

Ok thanks🙏 - so maybe I can use this way of thinking and explaining one of the mechanisms behind FND

Really looking forward to this www.rsm.ac.uk/events/hypno...
interest?
@mattburkemd.bsky.social @matthewbroome.bsky.social @jonstoneneuro.bsky.social @kingsioppn.bsky.social @susannahpick.bsky.social @wendyburn.bsky.social @inspirethemind.bsky.social @tomplender.bsky.social @fndportal.bsky.social

@fndportal.bsky.social @jonstoneneuro.bsky.social @alancarson15.bsky.social @wesleytkerr.bsky.social @katerinafoto.bsky.social @nielsdetert.bsky.social @drzoffness.bsky.social @susannahpick.bsky.social

Latest attempt to try and define predictive brain mechanism in #FND in the simplest terms -

A disconnect in the brain where -

Beliefs/expectations + prior experiences

Outweigh

Incoming sensory input from present reality

Does that seem accurate? Any thoughts appreciated 🙏

@fndportal.bsky.social @katerinafoto.bsky.social @doug-mcleod.bsky.social @gailfdavies.bsky.social

YouTube video by Dr Abhijit Das Hypnosis and Suggestion: An ideal therapy for Functional Neurological Disorder (FND)?

Is hypnosis the ideal therapy for #FND ?great presentation from Dr Abhijit Das -

youtu.be/GEKLOwfhvA8?...

Functional seizures don't act like epilepsy. Functional movement disorders don't act like nervous system damage.

But is FND feigning or malingering? No!

A great paper from @mahyog.bsky.social @jonstoneneuro.bsky.social explains why

www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfil...

#fnd #disabilityrights

“Connections between the nervous and immune systems are increasingly recognized as central to brain–body physiology […] we examine how these systems collaborate to detect and respond to both internal and external stimuli — such as psychological stress, circadian cues, infection, and tissue injury.“

“The findings emphasize the need for personalised and compassionate care for individuals suffering from FND, underpinned by increased service provision within the healthcare system.”

Professor Aikaterini Fotopoulou Awarded 2025 ALBA-FKNE Diversity Prize Professor Aikaterini Fotopoulou from UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences has been awarded the ALBA-FKNE Diversity Prize at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies meeting.

🎉 Congratulations to Prof. @katerinafoto.bsky.social‬, who has won the ALBA-FKNE Diversity Prize for her outstanding contributions to promoting equality and diversity in the brain sciences. ‪@network-alba.bsky.social‬ @kavlifoundation.org‬

YouTube video by Pain Free You Are You Losing Hope?

For anybody struggling- great video from Dan Buglio on not losing hope with these #FND / chronic pain type conditions
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ccd...

YouTube video by Theoretical Neurobiology Group FEP & Functional Neurological Disorder: Clinical Features and a Therapeutic Approach - Abhijit Das

Fascinating talk with @Brain_Tinkerer and Karl Friston on how hypnosis for #FND might fit into a Free energy principle/ computational neuroscience model

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvoN...

@fndportal.bsky.social @katerinafoto.bsky.social @edinpublishing.bsky.social