Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Electromagnetic Source Imaging in Presurgical Evaluation of Children with Drug-Resistant Epilepsy
Published on: September 20, 2024
Intellectual disability and psychotic disorders of adult epilepsy
Masato Matsuura1, Naoto Adachi, Reimi Muramatsu
1Department of Neuropsychiatry, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. matsu.mtec@tmd.ac.jp
Purpose:
To investigate the prevalence, psychopathology, and cognitive functions associated with psychotic disorders among adult epilepsy patients with intellectual disability (ID) based on a multicenter study in Japan.
Methods:
The study was divided into three phases: a prevalence study of psychotic disorders among new referrals of epilepsy, a polydiagnostic comparative study of patients with psychotic epilepsy and those with schizophrenia, and a neuropsychological study of patients with psychotic epilepsy and education level-matched controls.
Results:
Among 336 new referrals of epilepsy, a higher prevalence of psychotic disorders was found among patients with ID (24%) than among those with normal intelligence (6%). The psychotic symptoms and operational diagnoses of psychotic epilepsy patients with ID were similar to those of patients with normal intelligence. A wide range (7-86%) of psychotic epilepsy patients was diagnosed as having schizophrenia, depending on the operational criteria used. Patients with psychotic epilepsy had more disturbances in verbal memory and attention functions than controls.
Conclusions:
Epilepsy patients with ID show a predisposition to develop psychotic disorders. Distinguishing their psychotic symptoms from those of schizophrenia is difficult. Subtle cognitive disturbances predispose to psychotic disorders in epilepsy.
Related Concept Videos
Intellectual Disability
Epilepsy and Seizures: Overview
Various factors can trigger epilepsy, including genetic factors, brain damage, metabolic causes, and unknown etiology. Diagnosis of epilepsy involves electroencephalography (EEG), which...
Epilepsy ll: Types
Seizures l: Introduction
Schizophrenia
Seizures: Classification
Seizures are typically classified into two main categories: focal and generalized seizures.
Focal Seizures
Focal seizures originate from specific regions of the brain. These seizures are further sub-classified into two types:
