COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTION AND OTHER COMORBIDITIES | Cognitive Function in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Sometimes temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a common and poorly controlled form of epilepsy with considerable cognitive comorbidity. Much research attention has been devoted to memory function and its relationship to hippocampal pathology, but considerable cognitive disruption and distributed structural abnormality have been revealed through comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations and quantitative neuroimaging techniques. In this article, we review the topic of cognitive pathology in temporal lobe epilepsy, present modal cognitive profiles showing the distribution of cognitive abnormality outside of memory function, and discuss recent findings regarding distributed quantitative MRI abnormalities in temporal lobe epilepsy. We then identify discrete cognitive phenotypes within temporal lobe epilepsy, and the associated MRI and clinical correlates, and discuss implications of these findings for prospective cognitive change.