--- title: "Mitch McConnell’s Doctor Says His Brain Scans Are Clear" description: "Mitch McConnell's freezing spells have once again perturbed the nation, but there's apparently nothing happening that brain scans can see. " date: "2023-09-06" modified: "2023-09-06" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/mitch-mcconnell-brain-scans" categories: - "Brain" - "Health & Medicine" - "Neuroscience and Brain" tags: - "brain scans" - "congress" - "politics" - "seizures" --- # Mitch McConnell’s Doctor Says His Brain Scans Are Clear ![Mitch McConnell's freezing spells have once again perturbed the nation, but there's apparently nothing happening that brain scans can see. ]() *\Image: Drew Angerer via Getty / Futurism\* Mitch McConnell's [bizarre freezing spells]() have once again perturbed the nation, but the aging Senator says his brain are clear. The senator's office has [released a letter]() from Capitol attending physician Brian Monahan, who claims there is "no evidence" that McConnell has had a "stroke, \[mini-stroke\] or movement disorder such as Parkinson’s disease." Indeed, Monahan said the 81-year-old Kentucky Republican does not appear, per "brain MRI imaging, EEG study and consultations with several neurologists for a comprehensive neurology assessment" to have any "seizure disorder" at all. As [*CNN* reports](), a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity said McConnell was evaluated by four neurologists following this latest freeze. As Monahan notes, the senator did suffer a fall in March of this year, though the letter does not mention that during that incident, McConnell also [got a concussion]() and broke a rib. It took him over a month to recover from that fall, and he [returned to Congress]() in mid-April. This latest letter follows another the Capitol physician sent McConnell's office immediately after the senator's second fall last week, which said he was "[medically clear]()" to keep working and that "occasional lightheadedness" is common after a concussion. Monahan also suggested that McConnell could have been dehydrated as well. McConnell's strange episode last week marked the second time that the octogenarian has appeared to [freeze up]() publicly this summer after a similar situation in late July, rendering him seemingly unable to speak in response to questions at an event. In the aftermath of both of McConnell's freezing spells, [speculation has run rampant]() about what might be going on there, with [unaffiliated neurologists suggesting]() that the incidents look a lot like [focal seizures](), which cause electrical surges in the brain but do not necessarily lead to unconsciousness. In spite of having been evaluated and scanned, medical experts have noted in various press reports that there's still a good chance something bigger is going on with McConnell than his office is letting on — or, perhaps, than the senator even knows himself. As the [*Washington Post* notes](), the senator's March fall was not his first — for roughly four years he's suffered multiple falls, and although the public knows about the resulting concussion from the last one, we still don't know the cause of it. As for the imaging taken following this latest freeze-up, [*CNN*'s chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta]() notes that some of the scans may not be quite up to snuff to explain what's going on with McConnell because EEGs are really just a "snapshot in time" of what's happening in one's brain at the moment it's taken. "Someone could have a seizure, then have a normal EEG, and have a seizure later," Gupta said. "They can give you a fair amount of information, although they can’t definitely rule out a seizure." **More on health warnings:** [*Scientists Find There's Usually a Telltale Sign the Day Before a Heart Attack*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()