Researcher shines light on neurological disorder with a dark history

 16 December 2024

Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Doctoral, Giving, Health and medicine

A potential breakthrough treatment for functional neurological disorder could offer hope for those suffering from the condition.

https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2024/12/16/researcher-shines-light-on-neurological-disorder-with-dark-history.html

Functional neurological disorder: new subtypes and shared mechanisms

Functional neurological disorder is common in neurological practice. A new approach to the positive diagnosis of this disorder focuses on recognisable patterns of genuinely experienced symptoms and signs that show variability within the same task and between different tasks over time. Psychological stressors are common risk factors for functional neurological disorder, but are often absent. Four entities—functional seizures, functional movement disorders, persistent perceptual postural dizziness, and functional cognitive disorder—show similarities in aetiology and pathophysiology and are......

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(21)00422-1/abstract

Youth charity forced to end 'life-changing' course

A basic skills programme described as "life-changing" for young people is to close after losing its funding.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2gy9v12xvo

The Cartesian split in mental and physical health care

 The separation of mental and physical health care still rests on a Cartesian inheritance, the old assumption that mind and body are fundamentally different kinds of things, one physical and mechanical, the other immaterial and spiritual. That framework may have served a purpose in an era when medicine lacked the tools to explain what it could not measure, allowing physicians to attend to the body while matters of the mind were left to religious and spiritual authorities. But the assumption has outlived the limitations that produced it, and we are still living inside its consequences.

https://kevinmd.com/2026/08/the-cartesian-split-in-mental-and-physical-health-care.html

Brain scans reveal widespread structural and functional changes in patients following COVID-19 infection

 A recent review of 49 brain imaging studies reveals that COVID-19 is associated with widespread structural and functional changes in the human brain. The findings indicate that the virus affects regions responsible for memory, emotion, and executive function, which may help explain the neurological symptoms many patients experience. The research was published in the journal Cerebral Cortex.

https://www.psypost.org/brain-scans-reveal-widespread-structural-and-functional-changes-in-patients-foll/

Woman Who Became Paralyzed from the Waist Down Says She ‘Never Imagined’ How Much She’d Be ‘Loving Life’ Today (Exclusive)

 

• Amy Pohl became paralyzed from the waist down in 2018 and now raises awareness about disability rights and shares her journey as a full-time wheelchair user on social media
• Pohl emphasizes the importance of accessibility and finding joy in life despite her lifelong conditions
• “I never, ever imagined what I have today: living in my own home, independent again and loving life,” she tells PEOPLE 

https://people.com/woman-still-loving-life-after-becoming-paralyzed-waist-down-exclusive-12033971

Online Backlash & Disability Representation: The Controversy Surrounding Zara Beth

 In recent months, content creator Zara Beth—a prominent UK influencer and author who documents her life with Tourette’s syndrome, Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), and dysautonomia—has found herself at the centre of an intense social media firestorm. Known online for sharing her journey as a wheelchair user and chronic illness advocate across TikTok and her Official YouTube Channel, Beth has faced accusations across social platforms alleging that she is a "fake" wheelchair user.

https://hounslowherald.com/online-backlash-disability-representation-the-controversy-surrounding-zara-beth-p33572-365.htm