ReviewRethinking cognition and behavior in the new classification for childhood epilepsy: Examples from frontal lobe and temporal lobe epilepsies

- Structural abnormalities exist beyond the region of seizure onset in children with frontal lobe or temporal lobe epilepsy
- Pediatric frontal lobe and temporal lobe epilepsies are associated with deficits in both executive functions and memory
- These results support the notion of these epilepsies as network diseases

The new approach to classification of the epilepsies emphasizes the role of dysfunction in networks in defining types of epilepsies. This paper reviews the structural and neuropsychological deficits in two types of childhood epilepsy: frontal lobe and temporal lobe epilepsy. The evidence for and against a pattern of specificity of deficits in executive function and memory associated with these two types of epilepsies is presented. The evidence varies with the methodologies used in the studies, but direct comparison of the two types of epilepsies does not suggest a clear-cut mapping of function onto structure. These findings are discussed in light of the concept of network dysfunction. The evidence supports the conceptualization of epilepsy as a network disease. Implications for future work in the neuropsychology of pediatric epilepsy are suggested.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled “The new approach to classification: Rethinking cognition and behavior in epilepsy”.