![]() On a 2021 episode of the Unexplainable podcast, I spoke with Stone. And while it’s not always possible to see an FND on a brain scan, it’s possible to see structural changes from FNDs on brain imagery across large groups. “They are probably the second-commonest reason for an outpatient visit to a neurologist,” says Stone, who runs a clinic for functional disorders. “There’s something going wrong with the software.”įNDs are easily misconstrued, and, according to Stone, are understudied as well. would you assume you would find a burnt-out circuit that explained to you why your computer was not working? You wouldn’t,” he says. Stone says he often explains FNDs to patients as being like software errors on a computer. In diagnosing someone with an FND, neurologists have to make sure the patient isn’t suffering from an underlying medical condition like multiple sclerosis or a stroke. That initial cause can also be stress or anxiety. It’s more about how the brain communicates with itself.įNDs can be kicked off by something like a fall, a virus, or an episode of vertigo, but then, rather than improving, the brain gets stuck in an extended state of dizziness, nausea, or fogginess. Instead, he says, there’s another plausible, arguably overlooked explanation here: a functional neurological disorder, or FND.Īn FND is essentially a disorder of brain functioning, but not one caused by an obvious physical problem, like a stroke. “When patients hear the word psychogenic, they think that’s a doctor accusing me of imagining my symptoms,” says Stone. outbursts of strange group behavior like “ dancing mania.” But this may not be the most helpful way of thinking about it, according to Jon Stone, a neurology professor at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. ![]() Some have claimed this is an example of mass psychogenic illness - i.e. ![]() So if it wasn’t caused by a weapon from a foreign adversary, and the personnel weren’t making it up, what was it?įind Unexplainable - Vox’s podcast that explores scientific mysteries and unanswered questions - wherever you like to listen “These findings do not call into question the very real experiences and symptoms that our colleagues and their family members have reported,” the office of the director of national intelligence wrote in a press statement. The report concluded that it is “very unlikely” that Havana syndrome was caused by a foreign adversary.īut the US intelligence agencies don’t think people who suffered through this condition were just making it up. Last week, a group of US intelligence agencies released a report that all but crossed one high-profile possibility off the list. Dubbed Havana syndrome after several US personnel at the American embassy in Havana, Cuba, complained of a range of symptoms including headaches, fatigue, dizziness, hearing loss, and nausea, the condition has attracted enduring debate over what could cause it. Ever since 2017, US officials, medical doctors, and psychological researchers have been mystified by a string of “sonic attacks’’ that have been reported around the world.
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