Auditory processing in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy

Temporal epilepsy, one of the most common presentation of this pathology, causes excessive electrical discharges in the area where we have the final station of the auditory pathway. Both the anatomical and functional integrity of the auditory pathway structures are essential for the correct processing of auditory stimuli. AIM: to check the Auditory Processing in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy regarding the auditory mechanisms of discrimination from sequential sounds and tone patterns, discrimination of the sound source direction and selective attention to verbal and nonverbal sounds. METHOD: eight individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy were assessed, after excluding those with non-confirmed diagnosis or with the focus of discharges not limited to this lobe. The evaluation was carried out through special auditory tests: Sound Localization Test, Duration Pattern Test, Digits Dichotic Test and Non-Verbal Dichotic Test. Their performances were compared to the performances of individuals without neurological diseases (case-control study). RESULTS: similar performances were observed between patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and the control group regarding the auditory mechanism of sound source direction discrimination. Comparing the other auditory mechanisms assessed, the patients with temporal lobe epilepsy presented worse results. CONCLUSION: individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy had more deficits in auditory processing than those without cortical damage.