Sensitivity of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (64-Card Version) versus the Tower of London (Drexel Version) for detecting executive dysfunction in children with epilepsy.

Executive function deficits are common in children and adolescents with epilepsy. Though the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) is often considered the "gold standard" for executive function assessment, its sensitivity-particularly in the case of the 64-card version (WCST-64)-is insufficiently established in pediatric samples, including children and adolescents with epilepsy. The present investigation assesses the sensitivity of the WCST-64 in children and adolescents with epilepsy in comparison to another measure: the Tower of London - Drexel Version (TOL-DX).

Material specificity of memory deficits in children with temporal tumors and seizures: A case series.

In adults, left temporal lobe pathology is typically associated with verbal memory deficits, whereas right temporal lobe pathology is thought to produce visual memory deficits in right-handed individuals. However, in children and adolescents with temporal lobe pathology, conclusions regarding material specificity of memory deficits remain unclear. The goal of the present case series is to examine the profile of verbal and visual memory impairment in children with temporal lobe tumors.

Clinical utility of reliable digit span in assessing effort in children and adolescents with epilepsy.

The assessment of effort is an important aspect of a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation, as this can significantly impact data interpretation. While recent work has validated the appropriateness of adult-derived cutoffs for standalone effort measures in younger populations, little research has focused on embedded effort measures in children. The present study includes 54 clinically referred children and adolescents (32 males/22 females; aged 6-17) with a confirmed diagnosis of epilepsy.

The intracarotid amobarbital procedure: when is it worth repeating?

Purpose: Despite the reported diagnostic value of the intracarotid amobarbital procedure (IAP) or "Wada test" for determining hemispheric lateralization and memory functioning, it has never undergone formal reliability testing because a prospective test-retest study design is neither feasible nor ethical. However, some patients require repeat testing for clinical purposes, a circumstance that allows for exploration of issues related to reliability. The current investigation sought to: (1) evaluate the frequency of and reasons for repeated IAPs and (2) describe the test-retest reliability of repeated IAPs in a large tertiary epilepsy center.

Assessment of executive functioning in childhood epilepsy: the Tower of London and BRIEF.

Children and adolescents with epilepsy are known to demonstrate executive function dysfunction, including working memory deficits and planning deficits. Accordingly, assessing specific executive function skills is important when evaluating these individuals. The present investigation examined the utility of two measures of executive functions-the Tower of London and the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF)-in a pediatric epilepsy sample.