Exploration of microstructural abnormalities in borderline personality disorder

Klaus H. Fritzsche; Romuald Brunner; Romy Henze; Hans-Peter Meinzer; Bram Stieltjes

doi:10.1117/12.911929

13 April 2012 Exploration of microstructural abnormalities in borderline personality disorder

Klaus H. Fritzsche, Romuald Brunner, Romy Henze, Hans-Peter Meinzer, Bram Stieltjes

Proceedings Volume 8317, Medical Imaging 2012: Biomedical Applications in Molecular, Structural, and Functional Imaging; 831709 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.911929
Event: SPIE Medical Imaging, 2012, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

As with other mental disorders, the causes of borderline personality disorder (BPD) are complex and not fully understood. In this study we aimed to determine whether adults with BPD exhibit microstructural abnormalities using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). 56 female right-handed individuals (age range, 14-18 years), 19 with a DSM-IV diagnosis of BPD, 18 patients with a DSM-IV defined current psychiatric disorder and 19 healthy control subjects were included. Groups were matched for age and IQ. DTI Images were analyzed using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS). The analysis revealed significanty reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) values in the group of BPD patients compared to the normal controls. Similar FA reductions could not be found comparing BPD patients to clinical controls. Several clusters of increased radial (DR), axial (DA), and mean (MD) diffusivity were consistently identified when comparing the BPD patients to clinical as well as to healthy controls. None of the measures showed significant differences between the clinical and healthy controls. Diverse possible factors have been suggested to play a role in the disease, including environmental factors, neurobiological factors, or brain abnormalities. The presented results may play an important role in this ongoing debate.

Citation Download Citation

Klaus H. Fritzsche, Romuald Brunner, Romy Henze, Hans-Peter Meinzer, and Bram Stieltjes "Exploration of microstructural abnormalities in borderline personality disorder", Proc. SPIE 8317, Medical Imaging 2012: Biomedical Applications in Molecular, Structural, and Functional Imaging, 831709 (13 April 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.911929

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