title: Reduced neural differentiation between self-referential cognitive and emotional processes in women with borderline personality disorder.
abstract: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with disturbed emotion regulation. Psychotherapeutic interventions using mindfulness elements have shown effectiveness in reducing clinical symptoms, yet little is known about their underlying neurobiology. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, 19 female BPD patients and 19 healthy controls were compared during mindful introspection, cognitive self-reflection and a neutral condition. The activation pattern in the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) in BPD patients was different from that in healthy subject when directing attention onto their emotions and bodily feelings in contrast to cognitively thinking about themselves. Mindful introspection compared with the neutral condition was associated with higher activations in bilateral motor/pre-motor regions, left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), while cognitive self-reflection activated the right motor and somatosensory cortex, extending into the right supramarginal gyrus (SMG) and superior temporal gyrus (STG) in BPD patients compared with the controls. Results indicate that self-referential cognitive and emotional processes are not clearly differentiated in BPD patients at the neurobiological level. In particular, altered neural mechanism underlying self-referential thinking may be related to some aspects of the typical emotion dysregulation in BPD. Current data support the finding that mindful self-focused attention is effective in regulating amygdala activity in BPD as well as in healthy subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Psychology Department, Department of Neuropsychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: sigrid.scherpiet@puk.zh.ch.
authors.forename: Sigrid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scherpiet
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Herwig
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Psychology Department, Department of Neuropsychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Opialla
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Hanne
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Scheerer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Viola
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Habermeyer
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, Department of Neuropsychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jäncke
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Annette B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Brühl
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D064866:Mindfulness / Q000379:methods; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Emotion; Mindfulness; Neuroimaging; fMRI