Schema modes and childhood abuse in borderline and antisocial personality disorders

Abstract Complex personality disorders (PDs) have been hypothesized to be characterized by alternating states of thinking, feeling and behavior, the so-called schema mode

Hypersensitivity in Borderline Personality Disorder during Mindreading

Background One of the core symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD) is the instability in interpersonal relationships. This might be related to existent differences in mindreading between BPD patients and healthy individuals. Methods We examined the behavioural and neurophysiological (fMRI) responses of BPD patients and healthy controls (HC) during performance of the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ test (RMET). Results Mental state discrimination was significantly better and faster for affective eye gazes in BPD patients than in HC. At the neurophysiological level, this was manifested in a stronger activation of the amygdala and greater activity of the medial frontal gyrus, the left temporal pole and the middle temporal gyrus during affective eye gazes. In contrast, HC subjects showed a greater activation in the insula and the superior temporal gyri. Conclusion These findings indicate that BPD patients are highly vigilant to social stimuli, maybe because they resonate intuitively with mental states of others

Hypersensitivity in Borderline Personality Disorder during Mindreading

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>One of the core symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD) is the instability in interpersonal relationships. This might be related to existent differences in mindreading between BPD patients and healthy individuals<b>.</b></p> <h3>Methods</h3><p>We examined the behavioural and neurophysiological (fMRI) responses of BPD patients and healthy controls (HC) during performance of the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ test (RMET).</p> <h3>Results</h3><p>Mental state discrimination was significantly better and faster for affective eye gazes in BPD patients than in HC. At the neurophysiological level, this was manifested in a stronger activation of the amygdala and greater activity of the medial frontal gyrus, the left temporal pole and the middle temporal gyrus during affective eye gazes. In contrast, HC subjects showed a greater activation in the insula and the superior temporal gyri.</p> <h3>Conclusion</h3><p>These findings indicate that BPD patients are highly vigilant to social stimuli, maybe because they resonate intuitively with mental states of others.</p> </div

Sample characteristics.

<p>ALS, Affective Lability Scale; BDI; EHI, Edinburgh Handedness Inventory; HC, healthy control; BPD, borderline personality disorder; S.D., standard deviation.</p

Significant differences in BOLD signal between groups during the RMET.

<p>Notes: k =  cluster size in voxels. All comparisons are significant at <i>p</i><0.001 (uncorrected),</p>*<p>p<.05 (FWE-corrected); minimum k = 10.</p><p>BA, Brodmann area; L, left; MNI, Montreal Neurological Institute; R, right.</p

Number of comorbid Axis I and II disorders in the BPD sample.

<p>Number of comorbid Axis I and II disorders in the BPD sample.</p

Group comparisons during positive <i>versus</i> neutral eye gazes.

<p>The color bar indicates t values. The display threshold is p<0.05 (FWE-corrected). FMRI images comparing <b>A.</b> HC to BPD; <b>B.</b> BPD to HC; <b>C.</b> BPD to HC.</p

Behavioral data of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET).

<p><b>A.</b> Accuracy of the RMET, <b>B.</b> Reaction Time of the RMET in borderline personality disorder (BPD) (n = 21) compared to healthy controls (HC) (n = 20). Error bars indicate standard error for mean.</p