Benign Epilepsy With Central Temporal Spikes Children's Cognitive Impairment, Neuropsychological And Event-related Potential Study

Part OneCognitive Function in Benign Epilepsy of Childhood withCentrotemporal SpikesObjectives: Benign epilepsy of childhood with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS) or rolandic epilepsy(RE) is an idiopathic focal epileptic syndrome with a favorable long-term outcome. Nevertheless, recent clinical data suggest that children affected by BECTS are more likely to show learning difficulties and behavioural disturbances than their peers. Our study aimed at investigating possible subtle neuropsychological deficits in BECTS patients and the effects of subclinical epilepticform discharges on cognitive function. Methods: Thirty-one BECTS children( 19 boys and 12 girls) aged eight to twelve years were investigated with a neuropsychological test battery measuring intelligence, attention, vebal and visuospatial functions. The children were matched with twenty-one healthy controls for age, gender, years of education and family socioeconomic status. Moreover, we assessed the impacts of the laterality of the epileptogenic focus and the...