Abstract: ObjectiveTo evaluate the cognitive impairment in epilepsy patients with topiramate (TPM) or valproate (VPA) treatment by using visual completion negativity of faces.Methods30 epileptic patients were divided into two groups receiving TPM or VPA, respectively. 15 healthy volunteers were included as controls. Unfamiliar grey-scale photographs of faces (front view) were used as stimuli. Two types of visual stimuli were presented randomly: pictures of complete faces, pictures of incomplete faces (the occluded part was the left-top quadrant).ResultsN170 were elicited in all participants in each condition. The peak latency of N1 elicited by incomplete faces was delayed compared with complete faces in two groups. Under incomplete faces, a decreased and delayed N170 was observed only in TPM group (P<0.05). N170 amplitude and latency did not change in VPA group (P>0.05).ConclusionChanges of N170 is more obvious in patients with TPM than VPA. Cognitive impairment was not present in epilepsy patients with VPA treatment.

Key words: epilepsy, valproate, topiramate, N170, cognitive