Effect of lamotrigine on cognition in children with epilepsy.

Background: Lamotrigine does not affect cognition in healthy adult volunteers or adult patients with epilepsy, but its effect on cognition in children is uncertain.

Objective: To compare the effect of lamotrigine and placebo on cognition in children with well-controlled or mild epilepsy.

Method: In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study, 61 children with well-controlled or mild epilepsy were randomly assigned to add-on therapy with either lamotrigine followed by placebo or placebo followed by lamotrigine.

Material-specific recognition memory deficits elicited by unilateral hippocampal electrical stimulation.

Although the medial temporal lobe is thought to be critical for recognition memory (RM), the specific role of the hippocampus in RM remains uncertain. We investigated the effects of transient unilateral hippocampal electrical stimulation (ES), subthreshold for afterdischarge, on delayed item RM in epilepsy patients implanted with bilateral hippocampal depth electrodes. RM was assessed using a novel computer-controlled test paradigm in which ES to left or right hippocampus was either absent (baseline) or synchronized with item presentation.