Abstract
Background
Disturbances in the processing and regulation of emotions are core symptoms of borderline
personality disorder (BPD). To further elucidate neural underpinnings of BPD, the
present meta-analysis summarizes functional neuroimaging findings of emotion processing
tasks, as well as structural neuroimaging findings, and investigates multimodally
affected brain regions.
Methods
Combined coordinate- and image-based meta-analyses were calculated using anisotropic
effect size signed differential mapping. Nineteen functional neuroimaging studies
investigating the processing of negative compared with neutral stimuli in a total
of 281 patients with BPD and 293 healthy control subjects (HC) were included. In addition,
10 studies investigating gray matter abnormalities in 263 patients with BPD and 278
HC were analyzed.
Results
Compared with HC, BPD patients showed relatively increased activation of the left
amygdala and posterior cingulate cortex, along with blunted responses of the bilateral
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, during the processing of negative emotional stimuli.
The multimodal analysis identified the left amygdala to be characterized by a combination
of functional hyperactivity and smaller gray matter volume compared with HC. Hyperresponsivity
of the amygdala was moderated by medication status of the patient samples. Medication-free
samples were characterized by limbic hyperactivity, whereas no such group differences
were found in patients currently taking psychotropic medication.
Conclusions
Results strengthen the assumption that dysfunctional dorsolateral prefrontal and limbic
brain regions are a hallmark feature of BPD and therefore are consistent with the
conceptualization of BPD as an emotion dysregulation disorder.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 07, 2015
Accepted:
March 21,
2015
Received in revised form:
February 27,
2015
Received:
October 15,
2014
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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- Neural Substrates of Emotion-Processing Abnormalities in Borderline Personality DisorderBiological PsychiatryVol. 79Issue 2
- PreviewBorderline personality disorder (BPD) is a common and severe psychiatric disorder with a prevalence rate reported to be as high as 5.9% in the general population (1). Leading theories on the etiology of BPD [e.g., (2)] posit that it is caused by an increased emotional sensitivity and an inability to regulate emotional responses. These disturbances in emotion processing are thought to result in debilitating and sometimes lethal BPD symptoms, including a pervasive pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships and impulsive behavior such as repeated self-injury, suicidal behavior, and reactive aggression.
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- ErrataBiological PsychiatryVol. 79Issue 7
- PreviewAn erratum is necessary for “Neural Correlates of Disturbed Emotion Processing in Borderline Personality Disorder: A Multimodal Meta-Analysis” by Schulze et al. (2016;79:97–106). It has been brought to the authors’ attention that they erroneously included a study by Völlm and colleagues (reference 53 in the original article) in the meta-analysis of gray matter abnormalities as well as the multimodal overlap between functional and structural brain abnormalities in patients with borderline personality disorder, but not in the meta-analysis of functional brain abnormalities.
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