ASSESSMENT OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS IN PATIENTS WITH EPILEPSY (TONIC-CLONIC, JUVENILE MYOCLONIC EPILEPSY) AND HEALTHY SUBJECTS

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disease that is manifested in the form of
frequent seizures and accompanied by changes in behavior, sensation, perception, learning, and
memory. Different findings indicate that discharge seizure in different parts of the brain affects the
Executive functions, and also prevents processing in complex individual behaviors. The purpose of this
study was to compare Executive functions in patients with epilepsy (tonic-clonic, juvenile myoclonic
epilepsy) and healthy subjects.
Materials & Methods: In this casual-comparative study, convenience sampling method was used. The
study population consisted of all epileptic patients referring to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Urmia and
the study sample included 133 participants (N= 73 Patients and N= 60 healthy subjects) aged 18-35
years. Among the patients, 14 participants were excluded due to lack of selection criteria and 59
participants (N= 29 with myoclonic and N= 30 with Tonic-clonic epilepsy) remained in the study.
Data regarding Examination neurophysiology was gathered by Tower of Hanoi (seven motor) to
evaluate the Executive functions, and analyzed by Multivariate analysis of variance and Scheffé post -
hoc test was used for independent groups.
Results: The results of multivariate analysis of variance showed a significant difference between both
group in the six and seven motor (p<0/01). The Scheffé post - hoc test also revealed that there was no
significant difference (p> 0.05) between the two groups in the tonic-clonic epilepsy and juvenile
myoclonic epilepsy in the Executive functions.
Conclusion: Findings indicate that the Executive functions the tonic-clonic epilepsy and juvenile
myoclonic epilepsy is lower than that of healthy subjects. These findings confirmed previous findings
that cognitive functions deteriorate in patients with epilepsy