Key words: Epilepsy- Antiepileptic drugs- New antiepileptic drugs- Cognition- Cognitive function- Cognitive side-effects
All the antiepileptic drugs used in the treatment of epilepsy directly act on the central nervous system being potentially able of altering cognitive functioning. Knowing cognitive adverse effects of these drugs, whereas the factors that can increase them are essential for taking individual and informed decisions on the administration. This revision show that all the drugs studied interfere somehow with the normal cognitive functioning; no one, excepting phenobarbital which shows a more harmful profile, appears better than the others. The factors, which more contribute to increase the cognitive adverse effects, are politherapy and high dose of drug. Equally, attention has being paid to other factors, like age of patients, in the application of pharmacological treatment.

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