Body and self in functional neurological disorders*

In this commentary, we comment on the closing remarks from Mark Solms at the 2024 International Neuropsychoanalysis conference in light of recent developments in neurosciences around functional neurological disorders (FND). FND is the new term used to designate a frequent medical condition, which has seen several paradigm shifts over the last century; previously considered a diagnosis of exclusion (made when no other neurological disease was found), it is now a rule-in process, a positive diagnosis based on clinical examination. The pathophysiology of FND is now understood in the framework of clinical neurosciences with underlying mechanisms such as abnormal emotional processing, predictive coding and multisensory integration of interoceptive signals and other bodily signals. Neuroscience and neuropsychoanalysis are two important converging fields toward better understanding of the condition and better care for patients.