Understanding Sensory FND
Sensory symptoms in FND are characterized by the brain either ignoring incoming signals or misinterpreting them. This can lead to profound disability, such as "blindness" or "deafness" despite perfectly healthy eyes and ears.
Functional Numbness
Loss of sensation that often stops exactly at the midline or follows a "glove and stocking" pattern that doesn't match neurological nerve paths.
Visual Disturbances
Tunnel vision, double vision, or total "blindness." Often, patients can still navigate a room without tripping, proving the brain is receiving the data but not consciously processing it.
The Midline Split
A classic sign of sensory FND is the "midline split"—where a patient loses sensation on one half of their body, stopping precisely at the center of the chest or forehead. Because nerves cross over and blend at the midline, the brain's psychological "map" is usually responsible for this precise split.
Dissociation
Hearing & Tinnitus
Filtering Issues
Functional hearing loss often involves the brain "turning down the volume" or being unable to filter out background noise, leading to overwhelming sensory overload.
Sensory Recovery
Recovery involves "re-calibrating" the brain's sensory gate. This is often done through graded exposure to sensory stimuli and mindfulness techniques designed to "anchor" the person back into their physical sensations.