In the present study we have shown that there is both a decrease in connectivity of functional networks in the temporal lobe and that those same networks are more random in TLE patients having a long history of epilepsy. In particular we speculate that the functional neural networks of TLE patients become more random due to the influence of ongoing seizures on the structure of the network, irrespective of the presence of a structural lesion. Therefore our findings suggest that, as far as neural network functioning is concerned, surgical intervention might be more effective if performed earlier on in the course of TLE. Further investigations should address the course of epilepsy in TLE patients from the perspective of plasticity of network characteristics that accompany this process.
