title: Striatal activity in borderline personality disorder with comorbid intermittent explosive disorder: sex differences.
abstract: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is associated with behavioral and emotional dysregulation, particularly in social contexts; however, the underlying pathophysiology at the level of brain function is not well understood. Previous studies found abnormalities in frontal cortical and limbic areas suggestive of poor frontal regulation of downstream brain regions. However, the striatum, which is closely connected with the medial frontal cortices and plays an important role in motivated behaviors and processing of rewarding stimuli, has been understudied in BPD. Here we hypothesized that, in addition to frontal dysfunction, BPD patients may show abnormal striatal function. In this study, 38 BPD patients with intermittent explosive disorder (BPD-IED) and 36 healthy controls (HC) participated in the Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP), a computer game played with a fictitious other player. (18)Fluoro-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) measured relative glucose metabolism (rGMR) within caudate and putamen in response to aggression-provoking and non-provoking versions of the PSAP. Male BPD-IED patients had significantly lower striatal rGMR than all other groups during both conditions, although male and female BPD-IED patients did not differ in clinical or behavioral measures. These sex differences suggest differential involvement of frontal-striatal circuits in BPD-IED, and are discussed in relation to striatal involvement in affective learning and social decision-making.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10468, USA.
authors.forename: M Mercedes
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Perez-Rodriguez
authors.forename: Erin A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Hazlett
authors.forename: Erin L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Rich
authors.forename: Luis H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Ripoll
authors.forename: Daniel M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Weiner
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Spence
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: Harold W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Koenigsberg
authors.forename: Larry J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Siever
authors.forename: Antonia S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: New
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D007174:Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18