The Brain Structure of Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder: A Review of Positron Emission Tomography and Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Abstract

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe mental disorder characterized by a consistent pattern of emotional inconsistency, poor impulse management, unstable personal relationships, and a constantly fluctuating self-image. Researchers have lately made significant progress in grasping the potential neurobiological underpinnings of BPD, and neuroimaging has emerged as a pivotal instrument in examining differences between BPD patients and healthy controls. This article will explore past studies on neuroimaging of patients with bipolar disorder, including PET and sMRI. BPD patients are likely to display hypometabolism in prefrontal regions and metabolic changes in temporal and parietal lobes. There are also studies pointing to the significance of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and structural volume. However, the results are mainly inconsistent. The limiting sample sizes may be one of the reasons for such a high level of variance. Therefore, studies with larger and more inclusive sample sizes are needed to reach firm conclusions. Moreover, the relationship between medication/therapy and the changes in BPD patients brain activities also needed to be explored.