Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Contributors -- Part I Background -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Neuropsychiatric disorders in epilepsy - epidemiology and classification -- Introduction -- Epidemiology -- Population-based studies of psychiatric comorbidity in epilepsy -- Some large hospital-based studies -- Are psychiatric disorders commoner in epilepsy? -- The classification of psychiatric disorders in epilepsy -- Conclusions -- REFERENCES -- 3 Limbic connectivity: anatomical substrates of behavioural disturbances in epilepsy -- Introduction -- The limbic system -- Hippocampus -- Normal structure -- Hippocampal sclerosis -- Amygdala -- Interhemispheric limbic connections -- Corpus callosum -- Anterior commissure -- Hippocampal commissure -- Possible anatomic substrates of some behavioural disturbances associated with epilepsy -- Affective disturbances -- Schizophrenia -- Aggression -- Anxiety -- Acknowledgements -- REFERENCES -- Part II Clinical aspects -- 4 The psychiatry of idiopathic generalized epilepsy -- Psychosis -- Relation to seizure type -- Ictal psychosis -- Postictal psychosis -- Interictal psychosis -- Alternative psychosis with forced normalization of the EEG -- Personality -- 'The heart of the matter' -- Lifestyle -- Sleeping habits -- Personality traits in patients with epilepsy on awakening -- Phenomenology -- Investigations -- Personality in patients with pyknolepsy (childhood absence epilepsy) -- Phenomenology -- Investigations -- Personality traits in patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy -- Phenomenology -- Investigations -- REFERENCES -- 5 Epilepsy and learning disorders -- Introduction -- Definitions -- Prevalence -- Causes of learning disorders -- Classification of learning disorders -- The role of treatments -- Conclusions -- REFERENCES -- 6 Subtle cognitive and behavioural effects of epilepsy.

Introduction -- A systematic framework for assessing behaviour -- State-dependent cognitive impairment -- Frequent absence seizures -- Transitory cognitive impairment -- Frequent localized discharges -- Frequent hemispheric discharges -- Postictal state-dependent cognitive impairment -- Electrical status epilepticus of slow wave sleep -- Preventing cognitive and behavioural problems -- Conclusions -- REFERENCES -- 7 Aggression and epilepsy -- Introduction -- Classification of aggression -- Clinical relevance of aggression -- Neurobiology of aggression -- Aggression and epilepsy -- Intermittent explosive disorder in epilepsy -- Amygdala pathology in patients with TLE and IED -- Cortical abnormalities in patients with TLE and IED -- Dual brain pathology in patients with affective aggression and epilepsy -- Social and psychological aspects of aggression in epilepsy -- Treatment of aggression in epilepsy -- Conclusion -- REFERENCES -- 8 Epilepsy and suicide: a neuropsychiatric analysis -- Introduction -- Suicide and attempted suicide -- Series of suicides providing neuropsychiatric data -- Role of the interictal and peri-ictal psychopathology in suicide -- Pathogenesis of the psychiatric disorders of epilepsy -- Preventing suicide in epilepsy -- Conclusion -- Acknowledgement -- REFERENCES -- 9 Postictal psychoses, revisited -- Historical background -- Case reports -- CASE 1 -- CASE 2 -- Clinical studies -- Incidence -- Lucid interval, recurrence and duration of postictal psychosis -- Patient background -- Association with temporal lobe epilepsy -- Psychopathological features -- Violence and postictal psychosis -- Postoperative de novo manic depressive illness -- Treatment -- Conclusion -- REFERENCES -- Part III Cognitive aspects -- 10 Dementia and epilepsy -- Definitions and context -- Historical aspects -- Origins of psychometry.

Origins of neuropsychology -- An issue in interpretation -- Possible relationships -- Neurological disease in which both dementia and seizures occur -- Some specific epilepsy syndromes -- Cognitive effects of seizures -- Cognitive effects of EEG discharges -- Treatment effects -- Psychosocial effects -- Some observations in temporal lobe epilepsy -- Temporal Gate hypothesis -- Conclusions -- REFERENCES -- 11 The risk of cognitive decline in patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy -- Introduction -- Cross-sectional studies -- Conclusions -- REFERENCES -- 12 Behavioural and neuropsychological aspects of frontal lobe epilepsy -- Introduction -- Frontal lobe and behaviour disorders -- Epilepsy and behaviour disorders -- The neuropsychology of frontal lobe epilepsy -- Ictal behaviour in frontal lobe seizures: 'positive' and 'negative' phenomena -- Behavioural correlates of frontal lobe epilepsy -- Academic achievement and employment in frontal lobe epilepsy -- Trait or state -- Conclusion -- REFERENCES -- Part IV Nonepileptic attacks -- 13 Epilepsy, dissociation and nonepileptic seizures -- Introduction -- What is dissociation? -- Dissociation as nonintegrated mental modules or systems -- Dissociation as an alteration in consciousness -- Dissociation as a defence mechanism -- Epilepsy and dissociation -- Nonepileptic seizures and dissociation -- Dissociative mechanisms of nonepileptic seizures -- Summary -- REFERENCES -- 14 Psychobiology of psychogenic pseudoseizures -- Introduction -- REFERENCES -- 15 Epilepsy and panic disorder -- Introduction -- Epilepsy -- Panic disorder -- Potential pathophysiological commonalities -- Biochemical pathophysiology -- Electrophysiology -- EEG studies -- Event-related potentials -- Structural and functional imaging -- Experimental models of anxiety.

The biological significance of phenomenological similarities between PD and epilepsy -- Conclusions -- REFERENCES -- Part V Treatment complications -- 16 The effects of antiepileptic drugs on behaviour -- Introduction -- Classical antiepileptic drugs -- New antiepileptic drugs -- Psychiatric side effects of new antiepileptic drugs -- Vigabatrin -- Lamotrigine -- Felbamate -- Gabapentin -- Tiagabine -- Topiramate -- Levetiracetam -- Mechanisms -- Idiosyncratic, dose-unrelated effects -- Forced normalization -- Positive psychotropic effects of antiepileptic drugs in psychiatric patients -- Positive psychotropic effects of AEDs in epilepsy patients -- Summary and clinical recommendations -- REFERENCES -- 17 Antiepileptic drug treatment and epileptic seizures - effects on cognitive function -- Introduction -- Cognitive side effects of antiepileptic drugs -- Cognitive effects of seizures -- Short-term or acute effects -- Long-term (irreversible?) effects -- Conclusion -- seizures and drugs -- REFERENCES -- 18 Psychiatric effects of surgery for temporal lobe epilepsy -- Introduction -- Psychiatric disorders in the context of temporal lobe resections -- Total psychiatric morbidity in patients with temporal lobe surgery -- Psychoses -- Postictal psychoses -- Chronic interictal psychoses -- Postoperative psychoses -- Affective disorders and anxiety -- Nonepileptic attacks (nonepileptic seizures) -- Personality disorders - a gateway to an individual understanding of patients -- How could the development of personality disorders and their neuronal basis be explained? -- CASE REPORT -- A proposal for psychiatric assessment strategies -- REFERENCES -- 19 Vagus nerve stimulation and mood -- Introduction -- Mood improvements by VNS in epilepsy patients -- VNS as an antidepressant treatment in nonepileptic patients -- Cerebral mechanisms of action.

Noradrenergic system -- Serotonergic system -- Cortical inhibition -- GABA and glutamate -- Peripheral mechanisms -- REFERENCES -- Part VI Treatment -- 20 On the use of psychotropic drugs in patients with seizure disorder -- Introduction -- Antidepressant drugs seizures and epilepsy -- A review of some early studies -- Animal data -- Clinical data -- Newer antidepressant drugs -- New antidepressant drugs and seizures -- Pharmacokinetic interactions -- Conclusions -- Antipsychotic drugs -- CASE REPORT -- Pharmacokinetic interactions -- Conclusions -- Other psychotropic agents -- Conclusions -- REFERENCES -- 21 The role of psychotherapy in the treatment of epilepsies -- Introduction -- FOUR CASE REPORTS -- Discussion -- Questions of indication and contraindication -- Effective or only well-intended? -- REFERENCES -- 22 Choosing measures to assess quality of life (QOL) in epilepsy -- Why assess quality of life? -- Types of QOL measure -- Individualized, patient-driven QOL assessment techniques -- QOL measures for use in epilepsy -- Therapeutic outcome: change in seizure frequency -- Drug trials -- Surgery -- Study 1: patients starting adjunctive AED therapy -- Drug study: subjects and methods -- Quality of Life (QOL) -- The QOLAS -- QOLAS interview -- QOLAS scoring -- The EuroQol EQ-5D -- Drug study: statistics -- Drug study: results -- Drug study: seizures at baseline -- Drug study: seizure reduction -- Drug study: quality of life measures -- Drug study: EQ-5D profile scores -- Drug study: EQ-5D VAS scores -- Drug study: EQ-5D utility scores -- Drug study: summary -- Study 2: epilepsy surgery -- Surgery: subjects and methods -- QOL measures -- The Epilepsy Surgery Inventory (ESI-55) -- Surgery study: statistics -- Epilepsy surgery: results -- Seizure reduction -- QOLAS scores -- ESI-55 composite scores -- EQ-5D -- EQ-5D utility scores -- Summary.

Discussion.