Movement Disorders

Movement disorders reflect dysfunction within complex neural systems that control the initiation, scaling, timing, coordination, and inhibition of movement.

Dr. Funk diagnoses a broad range of movement disorders, including Parkinson’s disease and other forms of parkinsonism, multiple system atrophy (MSA), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal syndrome (CBS), essential tremor and other tremor disorders, dystonia, chorea, myoclonus, tic disorders and Tourette syndrome, cerebellar ataxia and other ataxic disorders, dyskinesias, medication-induced movement disorders, functional movement disorders, and other hyperkinetic and hypokinetic movement disorders.

These abnormal movements can arise from dysfunction across the basal ganglia, cerebellum, thalamus, brainstem, motor cortex, sensory systems, and the interconnected neural networks linking them.

Dr. Funk goes beyond identifying the visible movement or assigning a diagnostic label. He performs an advanced neurological examination to characterize the movement phenomenology and then localize the brain regions, nuclei, neural pathways, neurotransmitter systems, and functional networks responsible for the abnormal movement. He integrates these findings with neuroimaging, advanced laboratory testing, medication effects, metabolic and endocrine factors, neuroimmune mechanisms, vascular disease, neurodegeneration, and other neurological findings when clinically relevant.

This polysubspecialty approach becomes especially important because movement disorders rarely exist within an isolated neurological system. Dr. Funk integrates Movement Disorders with Neuroimaging, Neuroimmunology, Neuroendocrinology, Vascular Neurology, Vestibular Neurology, Neuro-Ophthalmology, Neurodegenerative Neurology, and other relevant neurological subspecialties to determine why the movement disorder developed and how it fits within the patient's larger neurological condition.

Treatment follows the localization. Dr. Funk identifies modifiable neurological, biochemical, metabolic, inflammatory, autonomic, vestibular, sensory, and physiological factors contributing to the disorder while coordinating with prescribing clinicians when medication management is necessary. He then designs individualized neurological rehabilitation and neuromodulation to target the dysfunctional circuitry identified during the examination.

Depending on the neurological localization, treatment may incorporate precisely selected motor and sensory rehabilitation, vestibular and oculomotor stimulation, peripheral nerve stimulation, transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS), transcranial photobiomodulation, balance and coordination rehabilitation, and other targeted neuromodulation strategies.

The objective is not simply to suppress an abnormal movement. Dr. Funk determines what neurological circuitry is producing it, identifies the mechanisms contributing to that dysfunction, and targets the specific brain regions, pathways, neurotransmitter systems, and neural networks that can be rehabilitated.