Depression in Epilepsy: A Neurobiologic Perspective

Depression is the most frequent psychiatric comorbidity in patients with epilepsy. By the same token, patients with depression are at higher risk of developing epilepsy than are controls. Such bidirectional relations raise the question of whether both disorders share common pathogenic mechanisms, presenting with common neurotransmitter abnormalities and involvement of the same neuroanatomic structures. In this article, some of the available data in support of this hypothesis are reviewed.