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Executive functions in children with frontal and temporal lobe epilepsy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2002

Kathleen Culhane-Shelburne*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado
Lynn Chapieski
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
Merrill Hiscock
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
Daniel Glaze
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
*
Kathleen Culhane-Shelburne, JFK Partners, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, 4200 East 9th Avenue, Box C-234, Denver, CO 80262. E-mail: kathy.culhane-shelburne@uchsc.edu

Abstract

Even though frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) is a relatively common seizure type, no formal psychometric studies of children with FLE have been reported. We compared 12 children with FLE and 15 children with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) on neuropsychological tests of attention, memory, executive functioning, and adaptive functioning. The results of these tests indicated that the children with FLE had deficits in planning and executive functions, whereas their verbal and nonverbal memory was intact. The opposite pattern was observed in children with TLE. Measures of executive functioning and impulse control were the best predictors of adaptive functioning. The findings suggest that children with FLE have a pattern of cognitive deficits that differs markedly from the pattern seen in children with TLE. Children with FLE have prominent deficits in executive functioning that appear to be related to poor behavioral adaptation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2002

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