title: Affect regulation in borderline personality disorder: experimental findings from psychophysiology and functional neuroimaging.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Intense and rapidly changing mood states are a major feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD), which is thought to arise from affective vulnerability.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  There have been only a few studies investigating affective processing in BPD, and particularly neither psychophysiological nor neurofunctional correlates of abnormal emotional processing have been identified so far.
  
  
  METHODS
  Studies are reported using psychophysiological or functional neuroimaging methodology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The psychophysiological study did not indicate a general emotional hyperresponsiveness in BPD. Low autonomic arousal seemed to reflect dissociative states in borderline subjects experiencing intense emotions. In the functional magnetic resonance imaging study enhanced amygdala activation was found in BPD, and it is suggested to reflect the intense and slowly subsiding emotions commonly observed in response to even low-level stressors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Implications for psychotherapy are discussed.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Aachen Technical University (RWTH).
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Herpertz
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Aachen Technical University (RWTH).
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dietrich
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Aachen Technical University (RWTH).
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Werth
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Aachen Technical University (RWTH).
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qunaibi
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Aachen Technical University (RWTH).
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lukas
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Aachen Technical University (RWTH).
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schuerkens
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Aachen Technical University (RWTH).
authors.forename: H-J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kunert
authors.affiliation: 2Haina Forensic Psychiatric Hospital and Westphalian Center for Forensic Psychiatry, Lippstadt, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Freese
authors.affiliation: 2Haina Forensic Psychiatric Hospital and Westphalian Center for Forensic Psychiatry, Lippstadt, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Flesch
authors.affiliation: 2Haina Forensic Psychiatric Hospital and Westphalian Center for Forensic Psychiatry, Lippstadt, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mueller-Isberner
authors.affiliation: 2Haina Forensic Psychiatric Hospital and Westphalian Center for Forensic Psychiatry, Lippstadt, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Osterheider
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Aachen Technical University (RWTH).
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sass