Relationship of Indicators of Neuropathology, Psychopathology, and Effort to Neuropsychological Results in Patients with Epilepsy or Psychogenic Non-epileptic Seizures

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Previous research suggests epilepsy and psychogenic non-epileptic seizure (PNES) patients do not show consistent group differences on neuropsychological measures. However, both groups of patients show decreased neuropsychological performance when compared to a normal population ( Cragar, Berry, Fakhoury, Cibula, & Schmitt, 2002 Cragar, D.E. , Berry, D.T.R. , Fakhoury, T.A. , Cibula, J.E. and Schmitt, F.A. 2002. A review of diagnostic techniques in the differential diagnosis of epilepsy and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. Neuropsychology Review, 12: 31–64. [PUBMED] [INFOTRIEVE] [CROSSREF] [CSA] [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar] ). Swanson, Springer, Benbadis, and Morris (2000) Swanson, S.J. , Springer, J.A. , Benbadis, S.R. and Morris, G.L. 2000. “Cognitive and psychological functioning in patients with non-epileptic seizures”. In Non-epileptic seizures , 2nd, Edited by: Gates, J.R. and Rowan, A.J. 123–137. Bostan: Butterworth-Heinermann. [Google Scholar] have suggested epilepsy patients show decreased neurocognitive functioning due to neuropathology whereas PNES patients show decreased neurocognitive functioning due to psychopathology. Effort has also been implicated as an important factor in neuropsychological test results in general ( Green, 2003 Green, P. 2003. Welcoming a paradigm shift in neuropsychology. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 18: 625–627. [CROSSREF] [CSA] [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar] ). The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships of medical history variables (e.g., duration of disorder), neuropathology, psychopathology, and effort to neuropsychological findings in epilepsy and PNES patients. Neuropsychological functioning was divided into six domains: intelligence, memory, language, executive functions, visual-spatial, and motor. Results indicated that medical history variables were related to intellectual, memory, language, and motor functioning. Psychopathology was associated with all cognitive domains except executive functioning. Effort was related to intellectual, memory, language, visual-spatial, and motor functioning. Neuropathology and diagnosis were related only to memory.