Introduction

Sensory tricks, defined as ‘episodic and specific manoeuvres that temporarily improve dystonia in a manner that is not easily physiologically perceived as necessary to counteract the involuntary movement’, are well-recognised features of organic dystonia.1 The term ‘alleviating manoeuvres’ (AlM) has been proposed as a more appropriate term because ‘sensory trick’ suggests that only sensory input is required, and the word ‘trick’ wrongly implies that is ‘fake’.2 ‘Reverse sensory trick’ is the term used when a manoeuvre worsens dystonia, the latter can also be called ‘aggravating manoeuvres’ (AgM). AlMs are usually internally generated and rarely effective when applied by another person. However, patients with functional (psychogenic) movement disorders (FMDs) may show improvement or aggravation with stimuli applied by another person, that is, examiner manoeuvre (EM). In this study, we aimed to assess the frequency and characterise the clinical features of EMs in a large cohort of patients with FMDs.