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Free Will, Emotions and Agency: Pathophysiology of Functional Movement Disorder

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Functional Movement Disorder

Part of the book series: Current Clinical Neurology ((CCNEU))

Abstract

Over the past two decades, there has been a welcomed rise in interest to elucidate the pathophysiology of functional movement disorder. This chapter first details the motor pathways involved in volitional movements. Thereafter, core constructs and neural circuits implicated in the neurobiology of functional movement disorder is subsequently discussed. These constructs include loss of self-agency, altered emotion processing, biased attentional mechanisms, altered beliefs/predictive coding and impaired interoception. Emerging evidence suggests that functional movement disorder is a multi-network brain disorder, with the right temporal parietal junction-based network implicated in disturbances in self-agency. An overactive limbic system disrupts brain function in functional movement disorder, including a heightened influence on the motor system. More research is needed to bridge neural mechanisms and disease etiologies within the context of the biopsychosocial model, as well as further investigating neural mechanisms and predictors of treatment response.

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Acknowledgement

Dr. Hallett is supported by the NINDS Intramural Program.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Motor Control Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Mark Hallett

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  1. Mark Hallett
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Correspondence to Mark Hallett .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Movement Disorder Specialist, Saratoga Hospital Medical Group, Saratoga Springs, NY, USA

    Kathrin LaFaver

  2. Department of Neurology, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA

    Carine W. Maurer

  3. Neuropsychiatry Research and Education Group, Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK

    Timothy R. Nicholson

  4. Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    David L. Perez

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Hallett, M. (2022). Free Will, Emotions and Agency: Pathophysiology of Functional Movement Disorder. In: LaFaver, K., Maurer, C.W., Nicholson, T.R., Perez, D.L. (eds) Functional Movement Disorder. Current Clinical Neurology. Humana, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86495-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86495-8_2

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-86494-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-86495-8

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