Episode 159: Key Practice Takeaways From the New AAN Functional Seizure Guidelines

Episode 159 of the NeurologyLive^® Mind Moments^® podcast is now live! Scroll down to listen or click here to subscribe on your favorite streaming service.

The Mind Moments podcast features exclusive interviews with leaders in the field discussing the latest research and disease management strategies across the breadth of neurology, including epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson disease, dementia, sleep disorders, and more.

In this episode, "Key Practice Takeaways From the New AAN Functional Seizure Guidelines," Benjamin Tolchin, MD, MS, FAAN, joins the podcast to provide clinical perspective on the recently published American Academy of Neurology (AAN) guidelines on functional seizures, drawing on his role as a contributing author to the recommendations. Tolchin, Director of the Center for Clinical Ethics at Yale New Haven Health and Associate Professor of Neurology at Yale School of Medicine, discusses what prompted the development of the first AAN guideline in this space and how the evidence base evolved to support formal recommendations. The conversation explores key considerations around diagnosing functional seizures, including history, semiology, EEG use, and the growing role of video documentation. Tolchin also addresses how clinicians should approach psychiatric comorbidities and co-occurring epilepsy, the evidence supporting psychological interventions, why pharmacologic therapies are not recommended for functional seizures themselves, and where major gaps remain in research to advance care in the years ahead.

The stories featured in this week’s Neurology News Minute, which will give you quick updates on the following developments in neurology, are further detailed here:

• Remyelinating Agent PIPE-307 Falls Short in Phase 2 Trial of Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis
• Semaglutide Linked to Improved Neurological Outcomes in Large Vessel Occlusion Without IV Thrombolysis
• FDA Approves Generic Glatiramer Acetate Injection for Multiple Sclerosis Treatment

EPISODE BREAKDOWN

• 1:10 – Why growing evidence prompted the first AAN guideline on functional seizures
• 3:20 – Diagnostic priorities including history, semiology, EEG, and video documentation
• 6:15 – Assessing psychiatric comorbidities and co-occurring epilepsy in functional seizures
• 9:15 – Neurology News Minute
• 11:30 – Evidence supporting psychotherapy for functional seizures
• 14:50 – Pharmacological evidence and use of antiseizure medications for functional seizures
• 18:35 – Barriers to advancing clinical trials in functional seizures
• 22:05 – Research priorities to refine treatment and long-term outcomes

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