Interictal psychopathology in temporal lobe epilepsy. The role of laterality of the epileptic focus.

The relationship between interictal psychopathology and laterality of the EEG focus in temporal lobe epilepsy was investigated by administering the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to 37 epileptic patients, with an EEG focus lateralized to the right (N = 12) or left (N = 25) temporal lobe. T scores obtained on the various scales of the MMPI were used for evaluating incidence and degree of psychopathology. No relationship was observed between laterality of temporal lobe epilepsy and associated interictal psychopathology. The hypothesis that a temporo-limbic epileptic focus may interact with the characteristic organization of each cerebral hemisphere to induce different psychopathological traits is not supported by our data.