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Epilepsy and Cognitive Plasticity

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Handbook of Medical Neuropsychology

Abstract

Epilepsy provided neuropsychology with the canonical cases of amnesia and episodic memory disorders. These cases strongly encouraged the development of modular conceptions of memory. As neuropsychology moves to develop non-modular, network approaches to cognition, it is ironic that epilepsy can be seen as providing clear, illustrative examples of a network disturbance in cognition. The key to understanding this shift in thinking is to grasp that the neural mechanism underlying network development (i.e., neuroplasticity) and the neuropathology of seizures are separated by little. Many of the neural mechanisms of learning are key factors in the regulation of seizures, and the highly plastic regions specialized for learning and memory are also prone to seizures. More than characterizing the effects of seizures, and determining the risks and outcomes of brain surgery, there are fundamental cognitive neuroscience reasons for the neuropsychologist to study epilepsy.

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Acknowledgment

This work was made possible, in part, by NINDS R21 NS056071-01A1 to J.I. Tracy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuropsychology Division, and Cognitive Neuroscience and Brain Imaging Laboratory, Thomas Jefferson University/Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA

    Joseph I. Tracy

  2. Department of Psychology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Cynthia Lippincott-Stamos

  3. Cognitive Neuroscience and Brain Imaging Laboratory, Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA

    Karol Osipowicz & Allison Berman

Authors
  1. Joseph I. Tracy
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  2. Cynthia Lippincott-Stamos
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  3. Karol Osipowicz
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  4. Allison Berman
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Correspondence to Joseph I. Tracy .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Oncology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Market Street 3535, Philadelphia, 19104, USA

    Carol L. Armstrong

  2. Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, 15213, USA

    Lisa Morrow

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Tracy, J.I., Lippincott-Stamos, C., Osipowicz, K., Berman, A. (2010). Epilepsy and Cognitive Plasticity. In: Armstrong, C., Morrow, L. (eds) Handbook of Medical Neuropsychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1364-7_1

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