TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1993//
TI  - Effects of antiepileptic drugs on reaction time, attention, and impulsivity in children
JO  - Pediatrics
A1  - Mitchell, W. G.
A1  - Zhou, Y.
A1  - Chavez, J. M.
A1  - Guzman, B. L.
SP  - 101
EP  - 105
VL  - 91
IS  - 1
N2  - Simple, choice, and complex reaction times, attention (variability of responses and omission errors), and impulsivity (commission and wrong-hand errors on choice and complex reaction time) were repeatedly measured in 111 epileptic children, aged 5 to 13 years, tested a total of 232 times. Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) were started, stopped, and adjusted throughout the study period, for a variety of clinical indications, and AED serum levels were monitored. The relationship of performance to AED serum level was examined. Overall the nonspecific effect of AEDs was minimal: higher total serum levels of AEDs correlated with more impulsive errors on complex reaction time testing only. In contrast, in 54 children receiving carbamazepine monotherapy, we found a dose-related beneficial effect upon reaction time, with higher serum levels associated with faster responses and fewer omission errors, particularly on complex reaction time. Phenobarbital caused minimal dose-related effects: only variability and impulsive errors increased with increasing serum levels, and only on one segment of the test (73 subjects).<p /> <p>Language: en</p> 
LA  - en
SN  - 0031-4005
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -