Many children with epilepsy have learning, behaviour, or development problems. Other children with epilepsy seem to be unaffected with these difficulties. Why is this? Could the epileptic discharges themselves cause cognitive problems in some children (cognitive epilepsy)?

The tools that the authors use to study this topic are detailed long term evaluations of individual children. Jean Aicardi, in his foreword, describes this as the rehabilitation of the anecdote, but the authors remind us that important discoveries in …