Classification

Epilepsy Disorders and Treatment Modalities

Epilepsy disorders are the most common treatable neurological disorders in childhood. Diagnosis and treatment of these disorders has improved over time. Children with epilepsy/seizure disorder are more likely to have or develop mental health and developmental comorbidities such as depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, and developmental delay compared to children without epilepsy/seizure disorder. If seizures can be controlled, quality of life will improve. This article will review the current medical treatment for seizures and epilepsy, including medications, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), dietary modifications, and surgical intervention.

Future directions in the neuropsychology of epilepsy

Two important themes for future clinical research in the neuropsychology of epilepsy are proposed: (1) the neurobiological abnormalities that underlie neuropsychological impairment in people with epilepsy, and (2) neuropsychological status of persons with new-onset epilepsy.

The emerging architecture of neuropsychological impairment in epilepsy

A new literature is now under way, one linking cognitive abnormalities directly to indices of structural, functional, metabolic, and other neurobiologic markers of cerebral integrity, independent of their association with clinical epilepsy characteristics. These trends are reviewed in this article. The focus is on temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) as a model with which to address the core points because this form of localization-related epilepsy has been very carefully studied from both a cognitive and imaging standpoint. Some pertinent historical issues are touched on first, followed by more detailed reviews of the cognitive and neuroimaging abnormalities that have been found in TLE, followed by an overview of studies examining direct structure-function relationships in TLE and other epilepsies.