Emotional Processing in Patients With Early- and Late-Onset Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Objective: Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) could cause various emotional symptoms due to the damages imposed on the temporal lobe. This study aimed at comparing emotional processing between patients with early- and late-onset TLE and a healthy group. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, after a definitive diagnosis of TLE, 60 patients were compared with 60 healthy controls without any epilepsy to identify emotional-processing styles in them. The research instruments were the Emotional Processing Scale and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5)-based psychiatric interview. The obtained data were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of variance by SPSS. Results: The present study results suggested significant differences in emotional processing between the investigated epileptic and non-epileptic groups (P 0.01). Besides, emotional processing indicated significant differences in intrusion, the lack of attunement, and dissociation subscales between patients with early-onset TLE, compared to those with late-onset TLE. Conclusion: The obtained data revealed more emotional processing dysfunction in patients affected by TLE, compared to the non-epileptics. Besides, in some subscales of emotional processing, there was more malfunctioning in the early-onset TLE group, compared to the late-onset TLE group.