Psychophysiological reactivity to traumatic and abandonment scripts in borderline personality and posttraumatic stress disorders: a preliminary report.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a highly prevalent and disabling condition linked to early stressors including traumatic abuse and abandonment. While much work has addressed traumatic events in childhood, little is known about the biological sequelae of BPD including how this disorder may be differentiated from other stress-related disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The purpose of this study was to investigate psychophysiological effects of different types of stressful reminders in BPD and in PTSD.

A positron emission tomography study of memories of childhood abuse in borderline personality disorder.

Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a common psychiatric disorder, which is linked to early stressors in many cases; however, the impact of traumatic events in the etiology of BPD is still unclear. This pilot study was conducted to measure the neural correlates of recall of traumatic memories in women with and without BPD.

Methods: Twenty women with a history of childhood physical or sexual abuse underwent measurement of brain blood flow with positron emission tomography imaging while they listened to scripts describing neutral and personal traumatic abuse events.

Neural correlates of memories of abandonment in women with and without borderline personality disorder.

Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a common psychiatric disorder that is often linked to early stressors. One particularly salient feature of the disorder is fear of abandonment. This pilot study was conducted to measure neural correlates of memories of abandonment in women with and without BPD.

Higher cortisol levels following exposure to traumatic reminders in abuse-related PTSD.

Animal studies have found that prior stressful events can result in increased reactivity in the HPA-axis. However, baseline function of the HPA-axis has typically been normal or decreased in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The first purpose of this study was to assess cortisol responsivity to traumatic reminders in women with PTSD related to childhood abuse.

Magnetic resonance imaging of hippocampal and amygdala volume in women with childhood abuse and borderline personality disorder.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a common disorder associated with emotional dysregulation and other symptoms that have been hypothesized to be related to dysfunction of limbic brain areas including hippocampus and amygdala. The purpose of this study was to measure hippocampal and amygdala volumes in BPD. Hippocampal and amygdala volumes were measured with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 10 patients with BPD and 23 control subjects.

Neurobiological correlates of borderline personality disorder.

Although patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are commonly seen in psychiatric practice, there has been far less biological research in BPD than in other psychiatric disorders. This article reviews the neurobiological research that has been performed to date in BPD and integrates the biological, psychological, and clinical findings in this disorder. BPD is best thought of in terms of dimensions rather than as a specific disorder.