Differences Among Epileptics and Between Epileptics and Nonepileptics in Terms of Some Memory and Learning Variables

THE TRADITIONAL approach to the diagnosis of epilepsy separates epileptics into two groups, those with the idiopathic and those with the symptomatic form. In the first group the seizures are considered to constitute the disease, while in the second group the seizures are assumed to be a symptom of another disorder. Often the basis for differential diagnosis, in both neurology and psychology, has been whether or not the patient showed signs of brain damage or other disorder known to produce convulsions. If he did, his disease was classified as symptomatic, and if not, as idiopathic. This classification of epilepsy has been criticized by Cobb1and Nielsen2among others, who point out that a diagnosis made by default cannot be a stable one. As better diagnostic methods are conceived the group with idiopathic epilepsy can be expected to shrink. Hence the dichotomy between idiopathic and symptomatic epilepsy would appear