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What I studied:
What I studied:
Functional Neurological Disorder is a condition in which neurons miscommunicate due to ingrained stress patterns in neural pathways, resulting in symptoms including functional seizures, tics, weakness, paralysis, and more. It is often associated with chronic fatigue and pain, as well as psychological disorders like depression and anxiety. The symptoms don't come from a physical malformation that would show up on a scan or blood test, which has historically made the condition difficult to diagnose and treat.
The processes interrupted or altered by FND.
What I did:
What I did:
My research involved using virtual reality technology to assess interoception, exteroception, and agency in people with FND. In the first part of the study, called a Full Body Illusion, participants were shown real-time videos of their body overlaid with an outline flashing either synchronously or asynchronously with their heart and respiration rates. The goal of this experiment was to compare interoceptive accuracy and self-identification (which is linked to agency) between FND patients and healthy controls. In the second part of the study, participants' movements were modeled onto an avatar projected while the participants walked toward it. Sometimes the avatar moved asynchronously to the participants, which they were asked to identify, thus assessing exteroceptive accuracy and agency.
Why it's important:
Why it's important:
Not much is known about FND, but there is evidence that agency is reduced in FND patients. Thus, improving agency through therapy may be a pathway to treating FND in the future, and the first step to that is understanding how the skill (mal)functions in FND patients.
Who I worked with:
Who I worked with:
My mentor Dr. Alexandra Ducroizet was a member of the lab of Dr. Selma Aybek at the Université de Fribourg and in collaboration with the Hôpital Fribourgeois.
Contact me at aertz26@ma.org!
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