Abstract
Whereas some studies have demonstrated impaired working memory (WM) among patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD), these findings have not been consistent. Furthermore, there is a lack of neurophysiological evidence about WM function in patients with BPD. The goal of this study was to examine WM function in patients with BPD by using event-related potentials (ERPs). An additional goal was to explore whether characteristics of BPD (i.e., impulsiveness and emotional instability) are associated with WM impairment. A modified version of the N-back task (0- and 2-back) was used to measure WM. ERPs were recorded in 22 BPD patients and 21 age-, handedness-, and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) while they performed the WM task. The results revealed that there were no significant group differences for behavioral variables (reaction time and accuracy rate) or for latencies and amplitudes of P1 and N1 (all p > 0.05). BPD patients had lower P3 amplitudes and longer N2 latencies than HC, independent of WM load (low load: 0-back; high load: 2-back). Impulsiveness was not correlated with N2 latency or P3 amplitude, and no correlations were found between N2 latency or P3 amplitude and affect intensity scores in any WM load (all p > 0.05). In conclusion, the lower P3 amplitudes and longer N2 latencies in BPD patients suggested that they might have some dysfunction of neural activities in sub-processing in WM, while impulsiveness and negative affect might not have a close relationship with these deficits.
Highlights
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious mental disorder that is characterized by a pervasive pattern of instabilities in affect regulation, impulse control, interpersonal relationships, and self-image
Higher scores for impulsiveness (t = 3.94, p < 0.001) and depression (t = 5.22, p < 0.001) were obtained for borderline personality disorder (BPD) patients compared to healthy controls (HCs)
Our behavioral results showed no differences between BPD patients and HCs in N-back task
Summary
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious mental disorder that is characterized by a pervasive pattern of instabilities in affect regulation, impulse control, interpersonal relationships, and self-image (van Zutphen et al, 2015; Chanen and Thompson, 2016). Working Memory of BPD as impulse control, planning and problem solving (Judd, 2005) These dysfunctions might be for a faulty allocation of processing resources (Bazanis et al, 2002), which would be exemplified by a deficit in the efficacy of the central executive component of human working memory (WM; Oberauer et al, 2003). WM deficits observed in BPD patients might implicate dysfunction in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex or parietal cortex. Previous studies using accuracy rate and reaction time only generally explored whether WM deficits exist in BPD patients, without examining possible WM subcomponent deficits. Some of these studies didn’t eradicate the influence of medicine, comorbidity with other disorders, and could not conclude the real features of WM in BPD
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