Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2020 Jul;50(10):1746-1754.
doi: 10.1017/S0033291719001880. Epub 2019 Aug 28.

Evidence for default mode network dysfunction in borderline personality disorder

Salvatore Aguilar-Ortiz  1   2   3 , Pilar Salgado-Pineda  1   4 , Daniel Vega  5 , Juan C Pascual  4   6 , Josep Marco-Pallarés  7 , Joaquim Soler  4   6 , Cristina Brunel  1   2 , Ana Martin-Blanco  6 , Angel Soto  5 , Joan Ribas  5 , Teresa Maristany  8 , Salvador Sarró  1   4 , Antoni Rodríguez-Fornells  7 , Raymond Salvador  1   4 , Peter J McKenna  1   4 , Edith Pomarol-Clotet  1   4
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Evidence for default mode network dysfunction in borderline personality disorder

Salvatore Aguilar-Ortiz et al. Psychol Med. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Although executive and other cognitive deficits have been found in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD), whether these have brain functional correlates has been little studied. This study aimed to examine patterns of task-related activation and de-activation during the performance of a working memory task in patients with the disorder.

Methods: Sixty-seven DSM-IV BPD patients and 67 healthy controls underwent fMRI during the performance of the n-back task. Linear models were used to obtain maps of within-group activations and areas of differential activation between the groups.

Results: On corrected whole-brain analysis, there were no activation differences between the BPD patients and the healthy controls during the main 2-back v. baseline contrast, but reduced activation was seen in the precentral cortex bilaterally and the left inferior parietal cortex in the 2-back v. 1-back contrast. The patients showed failure of de-activation affecting the medial frontal cortex and the precuneus, plus in other areas. The changes did not appear to be attributable to previous history of depression, which was present in nearly half the sample.

Conclusions: In this study, there was some, though limited, evidence for lateral frontal hypoactivation in BPD during the performance of an executive task. BPD also appears to be associated with failure of de-activation in key regions of the default mode network.

Keywords: Borderline personality disorder; default mode network; functional imaging; neuroimaging.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources