Influence of emotional distraction on working memory performance in borderline personality disorder

Stress-related psychiatric disorders across the life spa

Influence of Dissociation to emotional Distraction in Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder and helthy Subjects - Neuropsychology of BPS: Experimental Findings and clinical Significance

Stress-related psychiatric disorders across the life spa

Amygdala and Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Connectivity During Distraction by Interpersonal Pictures in Borderline Personality Disorder Patients with Interpersonal Trauma History

Stress-related psychiatric disorders across the life spa

Amygdala and dorsal anterior cingulate connectivity during an emotional working memory task in borderline personality disorder patients with interpersonal trauma history

Working memory is critically involved in ignoring emotional distraction while maintaining goal-directed behavior. Antagonistic interactions between brain regions implicated in emotion processing, e.g., amygdala, and brain regions involved in cognitive control, e.g., dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dlPFC, dmPFC), may play an important role in coping with emotional distraction. We previously reported prolonged reaction times associated with amygdala hyperreactivity during emotional distraction in interpersonally traumatized borderline personality disorder (BPD) patients compared to healthy controls (HC): Participants performed a working memory task, while neutral versus negative distractors (interpersonal scenes from the International Affective Picture System) were presented. Here, we re-analyzed data from this study using psychophysiological interaction analysis. The bilateral amygdala and bilateral dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) were defined as seed regions of interest. Whole-brain regression analyses with reaction times and self-reported increase of dissociation were performed. During emotional distraction, reduced amygdala connectivity with clusters in the left dorsolateral and ventrolateral PFC was observed in the whole group. Compared to HC, BPD patients showed a stronger coupling of both seeds with a cluster in the right dmPFC and stronger positive amygdala connectivity with bilateral (para)hippocampus. Patients further demonstrated stronger positive dACC connectivity with left posterior cingulate, insula, and frontoparietal regions during emotional distraction. Reaction times positively predicted amygdala connectivity with right dmPFC and (para)hippocampus, while dissociation positively predicted amygdala connectivity with right ACC during emotional distraction in patients. Our findings suggest increased attention to task-irrelevant (emotional) social information during a working memory task in interpersonally traumatized patients with BPD

Single-dose effects of Citalopram on neural responses to affective stimuli in borderline personality disorder: a randomized clinical trial

Background Psychiatric medication that has a soothing effect on the limbic responses to affective stimuli could improve affective instability symptoms as observed in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). The objective of this study was to investigate whether Citalopram vs. Placebo reduces the response of the affective neural circuitry during emotional challenge. Methods N=30 femaie individuals with BPD diagnosis participated in a Placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover trial design. Three hours after oral drug intake, individuals with BPD viewed affective pictures while undergoing functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent responses to images of negative affective scenes and faces showing negative emotional expressions were assessed in regions-of-interest (amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex). Blood perfusion at rest was assessed with arterial spin labeling. Results The neural response to pictures showing negative affective scenes was not significantly affected by Citalopram (N=23). Citalopram significantly reduced the amygdala response to pictures of faces with negative affective expressions (N=25, treatment difference left hemisphere: -0.06 ±0.16, P<0.05, right hemisphere: -0.06±0.17, P<0.05). We observed no significant effects of Citalopram on the other regions. The drug did not significantly alter blood perfusion at rest. Conclusions Citalopram can alter the amygdala response to affective stimuli in BPD, which is characterized by overly responsive affective neural circuitry

Amygdala and Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Connectivity During Distraction by Interpersonal Pictures in Borderline Personality Disorder Patients with Interpersonal Trauma History

Stress-related psychiatric disorders across the life spa

Whole-brain maps illustrate smaller gray matter volumes in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD-PTSD) compared to patients with borderline personality disorders and co-occurring PTSD (BPD+PTSD).

<p>For visualization purposes, the statistical maps were thresholded at T>2.5. Size and location of clusters are reported in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0065824#pone-0065824-t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a> and <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0065824#pone-0065824-t002" target="_blank">2</a>.</p