Current models of functional neurological disorders are returning to concepts that were popular before the era dominated by Freudian (psychological trauma) theory. It is increasingly accepted that beliefs about bodily dysfunction can trickle down the hierarchical neural architecture of the brain to produce “expected” symptoms beyond the conscious control of patients.
1213 Similarly, medical dogma will guide doctors in their perception and treatment of disease, moulding it into preconceived shapes in the process.
12 Both neural systems and medical sciences rely on determining the most likely interpretations using pre-existing ideas to reduce uncertainty (with what statisticians call probabilistic inference). To underestimate top-down influences in this complex interplay of thoughts and currents, to
neglect the power of ideas and ideology, is to misunderstand how our brains work.
