Cognitive impairments in children with nonidiopathic temporal lobe epilepsy

Ictal and interictal activities occurring in a mature brain can disorganize the neural network activity involved in one or various specific cognitive processes. In children, the situation might be more complex: the epileptic process occurs in a period when the cortex is still maturing and it may interfere with normal cerebral development. Although neural plasticity in children is greater than it is in adults, greater plasticity does not necessarily mean adaptive plasticity. Studies have shown that temporal lobe epilepsy in children is not systematically associated with global mental retardation. However, various difficulties in specific cognitive domains are more often found in children than in patients with adult-onset epilepsy. Language, memory, socioperceptive competence, and also executive functions, which can be impaired by the disruption of the temporofrontal circuit, are among such cognitive functions that need to be evaluated. Early detection of specific deficits is of primary importance for the implementation of appropriate remediation measures.