COURSE · PART 3 · MODULE 10
Module 10: Cognition, Memory, and Dissociation
Thinking problems can be as disabling as movement symptoms. This module separates three jobs: understanding the symptoms, understanding dissociation, and making daily thinking easier.
What this module teaches
- Cognition includes attention, encoding, working memory, thinking speed, language access, recognition, visual/nonverbal recall, imagery and executive functions. These are assessment domains, not a list of hallmark FCD symptoms.
- A memory problem can begin earlier than memory: if attention does not take information in, there is less to remember later.
- Functional Cognitive Disorder (FCD) is one possible diagnosis, not a label for every cognitive symptom in someone with FND.
- Dissociation can involve feeling detached, unreal or less aware. It overlaps with FND for some people, but not everyone.
- Sleep, pain, migraine, fatigue, ADHD, sensory impairment, medication, mood and other conditions may independently affect cognition or coexist with FCD; they are not automatically FCD.
- Attention/load, monitoring and prediction are working models with limits, not one established cause.
- A new, rapid or progressive change still needs appropriate assessment. [1][2][3]
Background reference: Everything We Know About FCD, including face recognition, visual recall, imagery and supported recovery.
Pages
- Attention, Memory, Word Finding, and Functional Cognitive Disorder
- Dissociation and Altered Awareness
- Build an External Thinking and Memory System
The third page is deliberately practical. It keeps the first page from asking a reader to understand a diagnosis and build a whole support system in one sitting.
Inside each page
For the Person With FND · For Family, Friends, and Other Supporters · For Clinicians and the Care Team · Research and Sources
Research and Sources
The diagnosis and treatment literature is developing. The sources support positive assessment and practical rehabilitation, but they do not provide one test or one treatment that fits every cognitive complaint. [1][2][3]
| Citation | Figure | Full citation |
|---|---|---|
| [1] | — | McWhirter L, Ritchie C, Stone J, Carson A. Identifying functional cognitive disorder: a proposed diagnostic risk model. CNS Spectrums. 2022;27(6):754–763. FND-CIT-0026. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1092852921000845 |
| [2] | — | Ball HA, McWhirter L, Ballard C, et al. Functional cognitive disorder: dementia’s blind spot. Brain. 2020;143(10):2895–2903. FND-CIT-0071. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaa224 |
| [3] | — | Campbell MC, Smakowski A, Rojas-Aguiluz M, et al. Dissociation and its biological and clinical associations in functional neurological disorder: systematic review and meta-analysis. BJPsych Open. 2023;9(1):e2. FND-CIT-0072. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2022.597 |
This overview still needs lived-experience, neuropsychology, occupational therapy, neurology and accessibility review.
Plain-language draft and research package prepared: September 5, 2026 · Clinical review pending