Affiliations: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine,
Amedeo Avogadro University, Division of Neurology, University Hospital Maggiore
della Carità, Novara, Italy
Note: [] Corresponding author: Dr. Marco Mula MD, PhD, Department of
Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Amedeo Avogadro University, Division of
Neurology, University Hospital Maggiore della Carità, C.so Mazzini 18,
28100 Novara, Italy. Tel.: +39 03213733371; Fax: +39 03213733298; E-mail:
marco.mula@med.unipmn.it
Abstract: Patients with epilepsy may experience psychiatric symptoms preceding
the seizure (pre-ictal), following the seizure (post-ictal), independently of
seizure occurrence (interictal), or as an expression of the seizure (ictal).
Compared to interictal, peri-ictal psychiatric symptoms are less investigated
and recognized. However, they contribute substantially to disability and
distress among people with epilepsy. The relationship between interictal and
peri-ictal symptoms is still largely unknown but it seems that they are
intimately related in epilepsy. Greater appreciation and understanding of the
peri-ictal period is clinically important, providing a model for understanding
basic mechanisms underlying mood and thought disorders and the substrates of
cognition, volition, emotion, and consciousness. The present paper is aimed at reviewing major psychiatric symptoms that may occur around the ictus with
special attention to clinical descriptions and relationships with interictal psychopathology.
