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.