Neurobehavioral study of borderline personality disorder.
The existence of an "organic" subgroup of borderline personality disorder (BPD) has been postulated. This report is of a case-controlled, chart-review study of BPD. The control sample consisted of patients with a variety of psychiatric diagnoses. The study found that 81% of the patients with BPD and 22% of the control patients had a history of brain injury, either developmental (44%), acquired (58%) or both. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between the summed number of developmental and acquired brain injuries and the score on the retro-Diagnostic Interview for Borderline. A pilot neuropsychological study showed that seven of nine subjects with BPD had evidence of frontal system dysfunction. These results help to support the hypothesized existence of an organic BPD subgroup.
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
R
R
van Reekum
C A
CA
Conway
D
D
Gansler
R
R
White
D L
DL
Bachman
D000328:Adult; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies