Lamotrigine improves aggression in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy

Abstract Aggression in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) may have phenomenological and neurobiological heterogeneity. In the present study, we targeted patients with TLE who showed aggression and evaluated the effects of lamotrigine on this symptom using the Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BAQ), which is based on a four-factor model that includes Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, Anger, and Hostility. As compared with the healthy control subjects ( n  = 115), patients with TLE (n = 21) had significantly higher BAQ Total, Physical Aggression, Anger, and Hostility scores. Ten weeks after initiation of lamotrigine, the BAQ Total and Anger scores of the patients with TLE were significantly improved. However, the patients with TLE in this study did not exhibit depressive symptoms. Our results suggest that lamotrigine mitigates aggression, especially anger, which represents the emotional factor of aggression in the BAQ.