This paper addresses the issue of cognitive morbidity and abnormalities in quantitative MR volumetric in children with new and recent onset idiopathic epilepsy. The available literature suggests that mild diffuse cognitive problems are evident in children with new onset epilepsy in the context of intact whole brain and lobar volumetrics. Subsets of children can be identified with salient academic and volumetric abnormalities. These findings represent the baseline upon which any subsequent effects of chronic epilepsy may accrue.