The neurosurgical treatment of therapy-resistent patients with epilepsy has gained a new and increasing interest in Germany over the recent years. In the context of the extensive, multidisciplinary preoperative work-up of these patients the neuropsychological and psychosocial evaluation has become more and more important. Therefore the aim of this article is to discuss in detail the relevance of these aspects for the selection of appropriate surgical candidates, their prognostic and localizing value as well as their importance for the control of the postoperative outcome.