Comments on neuropsychological evaluation of epilepsy surgery: are the tests sensitive enough?

Epileptic lesions often affect two of the most important functions in human behavior, memory and emotion. While cognitive functions, e.g, speech and memory, are normally carefully studied, emotional and psychosocial aspects of behavior are often overlooked in the pre- and postoperative evaluation of epilepsy patients. In my comment, I will address the need for methodological and theoretical refinement, especially regarding measurements of emotional and psychosocial aspects. In evaluating memory functions, a functionalistic approach is suggested; that is, in contrast to the entity view, studies should focus on the interaction between task demands and the available cognitive capabilities of the rememberer. We should develop a broad set of tests and demonstrate dissociations between different tasks that tap different capabilities and different memory systems: we should look for patterns of results rather than single scores.