Functional disorders are one of the commonest reason for patients to see a neurologist. They include problems such as Dissociative (non-epileptic) seizures, functional movement disorders (such as tremors, spasms or jerks) and functional limb weakness.

Functional Neurological Disorders (which is sometimes abbreviated to FND) are genuine and often disabling. They relate to a disorder of nervous system functioning but not brain disease. Other terms used to describe these hidden and stigmatised disorders include conversion disorder and psychogenic disorders.

The Edinburgh team carries out clinical research on a wide range of functional disorders, looking at how common they are, why and how they happen and trialling physical and psychological treatments. These include

• Clinical Studies of Functional Neurological Disorders including Functional Movement Disorder, Dissociative (Non-Epileptic) Seizures and Functional Urinary Retention
• Developing and trialling new treatments including internet based treatment, physiotherapy and psychological therapies
• Investigating the neurological and psychological mechanisms of functional disorders using modalities such as fMRI, MEG and neuropsychological studies
• Promotion of local and global policies to increase patient information, raise public awareness in the media, reduce stigma, provide better training, service, research and classification structures