Neuropsychological function in borderline personality disorder.
To evaluate the possibility of an underlying dimension of organicity in borderline personality disorder (BPD), a carefully diagnosed group of borderline patients was assessed across a wide range of neuropsychological functions and then was compared to an age- and education-matched non-patient control group. The BPD group had significantly lower Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQ scores on the WAIS-R. The BPD group also was impaired significantly on motor skills, figural memory, complex visuomotor integration, social or interpersonal intelligence, and on a measure of susceptibility to interference. This pattern of deficits localized to the fronto-temporal regions and became more pronounced when a subgroup analysis was performed. This study suggests that subtle organic factors may be operative in some, but not all, BPD patients.
Swirsky-Sacchetti
T
T
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA.
Gorton
G
G
Samuel
S
S
Sobel
R
R
Genetta-Wadley
A
A
Burleigh
B
B
D000328:Adult; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008182:Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008950:MMPI / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D012307:Risk Factors; D014888:Wechsler Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data