Management of Functional Seizures Practice Guideline Executive Summary

Drs. Mahinda Yogarajah, Benjamin Tolchin, and Jon Stone discuss recommendations for clinicians, patients, and other stakeholders on the management of functional seizures.

Show citation:

Tolchin B, Goldstein LH, Reuber M, et al. Management of Functional Seizures Practice Guideline Executive Summary: Report of the AAN Guidelines Subcommittee. Neurology. 2026;106(1):e214466. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000214466

Show transcript:

Dr. Mahinda Yogarajah:

Welcome to this edition of Neurology Minute. I'm your host for this. My name's Mahinda Yogarajah. I've just finished interviewing Dr. Ben Tolchin and Jon Stone for this week's Neurology® Podcast. For today's Neurology Minute, I'm hoping Ben can tell us the main points of the podcast and the paper discussed in that podcast.

Dr. Ben Tolchin:

We discussed the AAN guideline on the Management of Functional Seizures. This is the first American Academy of Neurology evidence-based guideline on functional neurologic disorder. It includes a systematic review of the randomized controlled trials relating to the treatment of this disorder, which found that psychological interventions are possibly effective in improving the chance of achieving freedom from functional seizures, in reducing the frequency of functional seizures, in improving quality of life, and in improving anxiety. In addition to the systematic review, there are clinical recommendations based on the systematic review and on related evidence. The recommendations deal with all stages of the diagnosis, management, and treatment of functional seizures and are particularly relevant to neurologists caring for patients with functional seizures. In addition, there are recommendations for future research relating to the diagnosis and management of functional seizures.

Dr. Mahinda Yogarajah:

Thank you, Ben. For more information, I'd recommend go to the main podcast or go and have a read of the article that's been published in Neurology® on the Management of Functional Seizures Practice Guidelines.