Can Doctors Actually See Functional Neurological Disorder on a Brain Scan?
- Alissa Black
- 5 days ago
- 8 min read
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT 11/25/2025
Hold that thought — we’re coming right back to it.
Hey friends, it’s Alissa Black, and before we get into the science, I want you to know something important. Every single thing that I say in this video is backed by real scientific research, and I'm gonna give you the full list of my references for free. There's a link in the description below with all 9 research papers that I used today, and they're not behind paywalls, so you can read them for yourself if you doubt anything that I say.
I'm doing this because my mission is simple: I want to make real FND research accessible to normal people who are just trying to survive. Let me talk to you honestly for a moment.
Some people online have said rude things to me. They think I'm a scammer, or a bot book promoter, or someone who doesn't know what she's talking about. That's just not true. I am actually an academic. I have a master's degree in education, and I'm a real human being — a wife, a teacher, a dog mom, and someone who survived severe FND.
For over a year I could barely walk. I could barely stand up without help. I stuttered. Sometimes I could only say a couple of words like “need food,” and sometimes I couldn't talk at all — I could only scream at the top of my lungs. It was horrible. I was constantly having non-epileptic seizures and falling down and tremors, and it was just absolutely horrible. The cognitive fog — like, I couldn't even think. And I had to quit my job as a teacher at the time when I came down with FND.
So it took me a couple of years in that kind of fog. Doctors couldn't fix it for me, and I finally found some stuff that worked for me and implemented it over a long period of time. And it took about 2 years, but I managed to heal about 95%, and it's a miracle that I am walking and talking today.
And when I looked into the research for myself, it backed up all of the steps that I had used — all the stuff that I just knew to be true. So I'm using my education and my lived experience to help people, and yes, to support my family. So yes, this video is sponsored, but there is zero pressure to buy anything. You can stay for the free content forever. That's completely fine.
If you're someone who likes step-by-step learning, this video is sponsored by my FND Recovery Guide series, which currently includes 2 books that are backed by 725 sources in all, most of which are peer-reviewed research. And I'm also gonna be releasing workbooks and courses to teach the material in a simpler way. So by the time you see this, they might already be out, and if that interests you, let me know down in the comments.
Now let’s get into the research.
Today I pulled 9 peer-reviewed papers from Google Scholar about FND and the brain.
Let’s answer the big question:
Can FND be seen on a brain scan?
The answer may surprise you.
If the MRI looks normal, then why do advanced scans keep finding differences in FND brains? Hold this — we'll explain soon.
Can a computer really tell if someone has FND just by looking at their brain scan? Hold this one too — we're building toward it.
Can doctors see FND on a brain scan? Short answer: not with a regular MRI. But advanced scans can see patterns linked with FND, and a computer can often detect these patterns better than humans.
Study Number One: Machine Learning Can See FND
Westlin et al., 2025, looked at structural MRI — the same kind hospitals use — but they analyzed it with machine learning.
They wrote: "Structural MRI features could be used to differentiate FND patients from healthy controls." And that is a quote.
Translation at a fifth-grade level: A regular doctor might not see differences, but a computer can find hidden patterns, so something is different in the brain.
Here’s a simple metaphor: Think of the brain like a huge city. Regular MRI only looks for broken bridges, fallen buildings, fires, and big problems. But FND doesn't break the whole city — it changes the traffic pattern. Humans can't see the traffic jams. Computers can. That's what machine learning does.
So does that mean FND is structural? Hold it — we’ll answer that soon.
Study Number Two: Functional MRI Shows Communication Differences
Functional MRI, by the way, is different than structural MRI.
Wegrzyk et al., 2018, used resting-state functional MRI. They found, and I quote:" Connectivity patterns involving the caudate, amygdala, and prefrontal regions differentiated FND patients from controls."
Translation: Even when resting, the teamwork inside an FND brain looks different. The communication is not the same.
This shows FND is real and measurable.
If MRI looks normal, why do advanced scans show differences?
Simple: Regular MRI looks for damage. FND does not come from damage — so say a lot of researchers. FND comes from the brain sending mixed signals. The research says so.
Mavroudis et al., 2024: "Routine MRI appears normal, but advanced neuroimaging reveals network-level dysfunction."
Hallett, 2024: "FND is not a structural lesion but a functional one."
End quote.
Your hardware is fine. Your software’s overwhelmed. That’s FND.
Now, there’s some disagreement on this point. Personally, I had spots on my brain in my MRI, and other research I have read suggests structural changes in the brains of people with FND. But the whole hardware-versus-software metaphor is up for debate.
And I think what it comes down to is that any damage that does exist isn’t easily detectable by the human eye on a regular MRI. But a functional MRI could show changes.
If it's not damaged, then what exactly is different in the FND brain?
White Matter Pathways
Gninenko et al., 2025, looked at the “wires” of the brain — white matter. They found, and I quote:" Reduced microstructural white matter integrity is associated with the severity of physical symptoms."
Translation: The brain wires aren’t broken, but messages may not travel smoothly. More symptoms equals more signal strain.
Study Number Four: Brain Signal Stability
Schneider et al., 2024, looked at BOLD signal variability. They wrote: "BOLD signal variability may serve as a potential new biomarker."
A biomarker is something you can measure. So FND brains show a different rhythm — a different beat — and it can be measured.
Can a computer really tell if someone has FND?
Yep. In research settings, yes.
Westlin (2025) proved it. Wegrzyk (2018) supported it.
This doesn't diagnose you yet, but it proves FND has a brain pattern.
Not imagined. Not faked. Not just anxiety. Real.
And I'm gonna add on this point, off the cuff, that your neurologist, when you go to get diagnosed with FND, is probably not going to do a functional MRI on you. If they do an MRI, it's probably just a regular structural one, and what you would expect is for that to come back clear if you did have FND.
Because when they're doing a structural MRI before you visit the neurologist, what they're really looking for is to rule out other conditions that would show up as big lesions in the brain. They're looking for stroke and other things.
And there are physical differences in the brains of people with FND, according to the research that I have read, but those structural differences would look a lot smaller and not so easily detectable by just a human who is reading the results without being trained.
And you have to remember how fast the research is improving and advancing. One of the studies that I just cited was written in 2025, and that's this year. And you have to remember doctors came through medical school way back when, and research still hadn't probably advanced to this point. So you’ve gotta kind of give ’em a break and realize that when they are diagnosing you, your testing is probably gonna come back clear — but that does not mean that everything is fine. And I personally don't think that it means that there are no structural changes, because the research seems to show that there are structural changes.
So if scans can see FND, why aren't hospitals using them yet?
Because new science takes time. The studies themselves say:
Wegrzyk et al., 2018:"Further work is needed to translate these findings into clinical applications."
Westlin et al., 2025:"These results require replication in larger, more diverse samples."
This is not about doubt. It’s about safety and accuracy.
Think of early MS research — it took decades before scans became routine.
We're watching that process happen for FND right now.
So if FND brains look different, does that mean you're stuck this way?
Hold this — it's the most important question of all.
The Hopeful Truth
Here’s what all 9 studies agree on:
The brain differences are functional, not permanent.
Functional patterns can change. Functional patterns do change. The brain can rewire. Your brain is not broken. Your brain is confused — and confused brains can learn new patterns.
This is why recovery is possible.
Cliffhanger for Tomorrow’s Video
Now that we know FND can be seen in advanced brain scans, the next question’s even bigger:
Can the brain rewire itself in FND, and what does the science say about the people who recover?
That's tomorrow’s video — so come back and see us.
And I think it's important to talk about neuroplasticity. I talk about neuroplasticity in here, and it's a big part of how I was able to heal 95% from severe FND.
The thing is, your brain is constantly rewiring itself — whether for good or for bad — through a process called neuroplasticity. And that's what we'll talk about in tomorrow's video.
Reference List
Aybek, S., & Vuilleumier, P. (2016). Imaging studies of functional neurologic disorders. Handbook of clinical neurology, 139, 73-84. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/chapter/handbook/abs/pii/B9780128017722000072
Gninenko, N., Müller, E., & Aybek, S. (2025). Reduced microstructural white matter integrity is associated with the severity of physical symptoms in functional neurological disorder. NeuroImage: Clinical, 103791. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158225000610
Hallett, M. (2024). Functional neurologic disorder, La lésion dynamique: 2024 Wartenberg lecture. Neurology, 103(11), e210051. https://www.neurology.org/doi/full/10.1212/WNL.0000000000210051
Mavroudis, I., Kazis, D., Kamal, F. Z., Gurzu, I. L., Ciobica, A., Pădurariu, M., ... & Iordache, A. (2024). Understanding functional neurological disorder: recent insights and diagnostic challenges. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 25(8), 4470. https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/25/8/4470
Schneider, A., Weber, S., Wyss, A., Loukas, S., & Aybek, S. (2024). BOLD signal variability as potential new biomarker of functional neurological disorders. NeuroImage: Clinical, 43, 103625. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158224000640
Sojka, P., Serranová, T., Khalsa, S. S., Perez, D. L., & Diez, I. (2025). Altered neural processing of interoception in patients with functional neurological disorder: A task-based fMRI study. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 37(2), 149-159. https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.neuropsych.20240070
Voon, V., Cavanna, A. E., Coburn, K., Sampson, S., Reeve, A., LaFrance Jr, W. C., & American Neuropsychiatric Association Committee for Research). (2016). Functional neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of functional neurological disorders (conversion disorder). The Journal of neuropsychiatry and clinical neurosciences, 28(3), 168-190. https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.neuropsych.14090217
Wegrzyk, J., Kebets, V., Richiardi, J., Galli, S., Van de Ville, D., & Aybek, S. (2018). Identifying motor functional neurological disorder using resting-state functional connectivity. NeuroImage: Clinical, 17, 163-168. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221315821730253X
Westlin, C., Guthrie, A. J., Paredes-Echeverri, S., Maggio, J., Finkelstein, S., Godena, E., ... & Perez, D. L. (2025). Machine learning classification of functional neurological disorder using structural brain MRI features. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 96(3), 249-257. https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/96/3/249.abstract
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