The current study’s main strengths are the large N and the use of longitudinal data for both patient and control cohorts in an age- and gender-matched fashion. Several previous studies demonstrating cortical thinning in patients with focal epilepsy reached limited conclusions because of the cross-sectional nature of data analyzed3 or the lack of age- and gender-matched controls.4,5 A cross-sectional design confounds between- and within-subject effects and, thus, does not directly address progression. Moreover, it does not permit a direct control of aging-related effects, as chronological age and epilepsy duration are highly correlated.2 The current study design allowed Galovic et al to demonstrate that the cortical changes seen in patients with focal epilepsy are different than those seen in normal healthy controls, are not age-related, and progress over time.