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Updated: May 12, 2026

Network Analysis of Foramen Ovale Electrode Recordings in Drug-resistant Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Patients
Published on: December 18, 2016
Depression and temporal lobe epilepsy represent an epiphenomenon sharing similar neural networks: clinical and brain
Kette D R Valente1, Geraldo Busatto Filho
1Laboratório de Neurofisiologia Clínica, Instituto de Psiquiatria do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo SP, Brazil. kettevalente@msn.com
Abstract:
The relationship between depression and epilepsy has been known since ancient times, however, to date, it is not fully understood. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in persons with epilepsy is high compared to general population. It is assumed that the rate of depression ranges from 20 to 55% in patients with refractory epilepsy, especially considering those with temporal lobe epilepsy caused by mesial temporal sclerosis. Temporal lobe epilepsy is a good biological model to understand the common structural basis between depression and epilepsy. Interestingly, mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and depression share a similar neurocircuitry involving: temporal lobes with hippocampus, amygdala and entorhinal and neocortical cortex; the frontal lobes with cingulate gyrus; subcortical structures, such as basal ganglia and thalamus; and the connecting pathways. We provide clinical and brain structural evidences that depression and epilepsy represent an epiphenomenon sharing similar neural networks.
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