Table 4.

Studies on the cognitive effects of levetiracetam in patients with epilepsy.

Study	Design	Sample	Key findings
Huang et al. [2008]	SB, comparing LEV and TPM	79 adults with partial epilepsy	No difference between AEDs using cognitive abilities screening instrument. There were slightly more cognitive complaints with TPM.
Gomer et al. [2007]	OL, comparing LEV and TPM	52 adults with partial epilepsy	No CAEs on tests of cognitive speed, verbal fluency and short-term memory with LEV, but differences for TPM. Cognitive performance not related to dose.
Levisohn et al. [2009]	DB, PC, rand	120 child and adolescent patients	CAEs were reported more frequently for LEV versus placebo (9.4% vs. 2.9). These included memory and attentional problems.
Piazzini et al. [2006]	OL, cont, add-on	35 adults with treatment-resistant partial epilepsy, 35 similar controls on usual treatment	Significant improvements in attention and verbal fluency were seen with the addition of LEV.
Neyens et al. [1995]	SB, add-on	10 adult patients taking CBZ or PHT	No cognitive differences with LEV on tasks involving attention, memory and information processing.
Wheless and Ng [2002]	OL, add-on	39 child patients	Improvements in cognition/concentration (13%) and alertness (13%) were reported by some patients. In some patients these effects seemed unrelated to seizure control.
Von Stülpnagel et al. [2010	OL	32 children with benign idiopathic partial epilepsies of childhood	According to parent interview, cognition improved in 10/32 patients and worsened in none. Improved cognition was reported in cases showing reduced seizures.
Helmstaedter and Witt [2010]	OL, comparing LEV and CBZ	498 adult patients	Patients taking LEV rated their cognitive status as improved and showed improvements on verbal learning and memory tasks.
Cramer et al. [2000]	DB, PC, rand, add-on	246 adults with partial-onset seizures	Cognitive functioning was reported as improved on a quality-of-life measure in comparison with placebo.
Wu et al. [2009]	OL	94 adults with generalized tonic–clonic or partial-onset seizures	Mini-Mental State Examination scores improved by 1 year, including most significant improvement for short-term memory recall and language.
Ciesielski et al. [2006]	OL, add-on, comparing LEV and PGB	20 adults with treatment-resistant partial epilepsy	Trend for improvement in visual short-term memory with LEV, but no significant differences for attention, working memory or executive function tasks. No significant differences between AEDs for cognition.
López-Góngora et al. [2008]	OL, add-on	32 adult patients	Evidence of improvements in working memory, verbal fluency, motor functioning, attention and prospective memory.
Rosche et al. [2004]	Retro, comparing LEV and TPM	39 adult patients	Minor improvements in cognition for LEV but not TPM. Improved digit span and fluid intelligence scores.
Helmstaedter et al. [2008]	OL, cont	288 adult patients, 43 patients on usual medication	Reports of improved psychomotor speed, concentration, and remote memory. Such effects were not related to type of epilepsy, cotherapy, dose, drug load or psychiatric history.
Zhou et al. [2008]	DB, PC, rand, then OL	28 adults with partial-onset seizures	Better set-shifting and delayed logic memory soon after treatment. Improved verbal fluency, attention and other aspects of memory. Improved cognition according to quality-of-life measure.
Lippa et al. [2010]	OL	24 elderly patients with cognitive impairment	Improved Mini-Mental State Examination score and cognitive functioning according to Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale.

AEDs, antiepileptic drugs; CAEs, cognitive adverse effects; CBZ, carbamazepine; cont, controlled; DB, double-blind; ETX, ethosuximide; GBP, gabapentin; HCs, healthy controls; LTG, lamotrigine; OL, open-label; OXC, oxcarbazepine; PC, placebo-controlled; PHB, phenobarbital; PHT, phenytoin; rand, randomized; retro, retrospective; SB, single-blind; TPM, topiramate; VGB, vigabatrin; VPA, sodium valproate.