Zhou Q, et al. - The intent of this research was to analyze if frontolimbic cortex asymmetries varied between patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and healthy individuals. Greater frontolimbic asymmetry was reported among patients with BPD than healthy individuals.

Methods

• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed on the brains of 30 young adult patients with BPD and 32 healthy control subjects.
• The self-report scales were completed by the enrollees. It gauged the impulsivity, affect intensity and other psychological variables.
• Determination was carried out of the gray matter volume, surface area, and cortical thickness in regions of interest (ROIs), namely anterior insula (AI) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).
• Data analysis was conducted for hemisphere-group interactions.

Results

• Patients with BPD reported reduced cortical thickness in left ACC and less surface area and gray matter volume in left AI, relative to controls.
• There were prominent group-hemisphere interactions for gray matter volume and surface area of AI and for cortical thickness of ACC.
• Post hoc analysis displayed that BPD patients had greater frontolimbic cortex asymmetry than healthy controls.
• Additionally, a link was determined between greater asymmetry of AI&ACC with a higher score in attention subscale of Barratt Impulsiveness Scale.