title: Attention deficits in children with epilepsy: Preliminary findings.
abstract: Attention difficulties are a common clinical complaint among children with epilepsy. We aimed to compare a range of attentional abilities between groups of children with two common epilepsy syndromes, Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) and Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsy (IGE), and to healthy controls. We also investigated whether epilepsy factors (laterality of seizure focus, epilepsy onset, duration, and severity) were related to attentional abilities.
  
  
  
  Multiple dimensions of attention (selective, sustained, and divided attention and attentional control) were assessed directly with standardized neuropsychological measures in 101 children aged 6-16years (23 children with TLE, 20 with IGE and 58 healthy controls). Attention was also assessed indirectly, via a parent-report measure.
  
  
  
  Children with TLE performed worse than children with IGE (p=0.013) and healthy controls (p<0.001) on a test of attentional control, but no between-group differences were apparent on tests of other attentional abilities. Compared to healthy controls, greater attention problems were reported by parents of children with TLE (p=0.006) and IGE (p=0.012). Left-hemisphere seizure focus and greater epilepsy severity were associated with poorer attentional control and sustained-divided attention, respectively, but no other epilepsy factors were associated with attentional abilities.
  
  
  
  These findings suggest that children with localization-related epilepsy, but not generalized epilepsy, may be at risk of deficits in attentional control. Interventions aimed at improving attentional control may be targeted at children with localization-related epilepsy, particularly those with a left-hemisphere seizure focus, who appear to be particularly susceptible to this type of attentional deficit.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychological Sciences, Australian College of Applied Psychology, Sydney, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: michael.gascoigne@acap.edu.au.
authors.forename: Michael B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Gascoigne
authors.affiliation: The University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Mary Lou
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital Education Research Institute, The Children's Hospital at Westmead and Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Belinda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.affiliation: T.Y. Nelson Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.affiliation: T.Y. Nelson Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Deepak
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Suncica
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lah
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D004829:Epilepsy, Generalized / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests
keywords: Cognition; Pediatric; Seizure