Interictal personality and behavioral traits in temporal lobe and generalized epilepsy

Fourteen patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and 14 patients with primary generalized epilepsy (GE) were compared on a self-report questionnaire (Personal Inventory) which assesses 18 personality and behavioral traits hypothesized to characterize persons with TLE. Four traits (sense of personal destiny, dependence, paranoia, philosophical interest) were significantly elevated in the TLE group, thus lending some support to the notion of changes in behavior and thought which occur in TLE but not necessarily in other forms of epilepsy.