Personality correlates of sphenoidal EEG-foci in temporal lobe epilepsy

Patients with unilateral temporal lateral or temporal mediobasal epileptic focus as ascertained by sphenoidal electrode EEG recordings were evaluated using the questionnaire designed by Bear & Fedio (1977). The seventeen traits defined by the items in this questionnaire were also assessed by close observers in an equivalent questionnaire. Patients with medio-basal temporal lobe focus were found generally to exhibit "epileptic" personality traits to a greater extent than patients with lateral focus, and the results indicated that they also, more than patients with lateral focus, were characterized by a schizoid paranoid outlook. The patients with left temporal lobe focus were found to be emotionally labile compared to patients with right temporal lobe focus. Patients with lateral right-sided temporal focus had obviously the most benign psychological prognosis. The main discrepancies between the results of Bear & Fedio (1977) and the present study are briefly discussed.