PURPOSE OF REVIEW This review explores recent developments in understanding the neurobiological mechanism of functional (psychogenic) movement disorders (FMDs). This is particularly relevant given the resurgence of academic and clinical interest in patients with functional neurological symptoms and the clear shift in diagnostic and treatment approaches away from a pure psychological model of fu...

Ten patients with constrictive pericarditis were studied echocardiographically with specific reference to inter-ventricular septal dynamics. Abnormal movement of the interventricular septum was present in 8 patients and consisted of flattening in systole and unusual posterior motion in diastole. The aetiology of this type of movement is at present unknown but may be related to restriction of no...

The i-test was developed to assess the visual-perceptual disturbances (VPDs) frequently reported by anxious patients. Persons with the disturbance report a specific abnormal illusion of movement when they maintain a fixed gaze at the i-test stimulus. Base rates for positive responses to the i-test and for reports of a "recurrent specific memory" (RSM) of a fear experience were obtained in psych...

The main therapeutic principle utilised in SpineCor Bracing, the Corrective Movement Principle, has been shown to be effective in the treatment of Idiopathic Scoliosis over the past 15 years. More recently the Corrective Movement Principle by the utilisation of the SpineCor brace is being applied for treating abnormal spinal loading and abnormal posture in adult scoliosis patients suffering fro...

Abnormalities in the movement-related activation of the primary motor cortex (M1) are thought to be a major contributor to the motor signs of Parkinson's disease. The existing evidence, however, variably indicates that M1 is under-activated with movement, overactivated (due to a loss of functional specificity) or activated with abnormal timing. In addition, few models consider the possibility t...

The results from selective dorsal rhizotomy research suggest that therapists need to question some common clinical assumptions about movement dysfunction. The rationale for performing a selective dorsal rhizotomy is based on the clinical assumptions that spasticity is the underlying cause of disordered movement and that reducing or eliminating the spasticity will improve movement. This article ...

Background: Epilepsy is characterized by a persistent predisposition of the brain to generate epileptic seizures, due abnormal neuronal activity reflected as involuntary muscle movement. This disturbance may lead important hospital admissions, which differ in prevalence based on distinct age groups.

In this report are described seven patients assessed clinically and neuropsychologically in whom mirror movements affecting predominantly the hands occurred as a congenital disorder. These mirror movements, representing a specific type of abnormal synkinesia, may arise as a hereditary condition, in the presence of a recognisable underlying neurological abnormality, and sporadically, and the sev...

Seven cases of single ventricle, six cases of hypoplasia of the right heart (tricuspid atresia), and one case of hypoplasia of the left heart were investigated with reflected ultrasound. In hypoplasia of the right heart there was abnormal anterior movement of the mitral valve; in hypoplasia of the left heart, abnormal anterior movement of the tricuspid valve, and in single ventricle, similiar m...