HIGHER BRAIN FUNCTIONS AND EPILEPSY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE PERFORMANCE BEFORE AND AFTER AMYGDALO-HIPPOCAMPECTOMY

We discuss some of the difficulties arising in the frame of the neurop sychological assessment of patients with epilepsy. We also report the neurophysiological findings of a study with patients before and after left- or right-sided amygdalohippocampectomy. Pre-operative results re veal dysfunctions of memory and cognitive flexibility in both groups, however, more pronounced in patients with left-sided foci. Pre- and po st-operative comparisons revealed mild memory declines in the left-sid ed group and in patients with abnormal language dominance. Moreover, t he observed normalization of frontal robe functions and of performance improvements in the healthy hemisphere, underlines the dynamic charac ter of cognitive functions. Our study confirms that selective surgery for seizure control, also positively effects higher brain functions.