Ninomiya T, et al. - The experts wished to estimate the association between borderline personality disorder (BPD) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) parameters and psychological tests. They suggested that hypo-metabolism in a front-limbic network dysfunction is characterized by the cingulum and a front-occipital network dysfunction characterized by the occipital lobe. On the other hand, an occipital-temporal network dysfunction characterized by the inferior longitudinal fasciculus.

Methods

• For this purpose, 35 un-medicated BPD patients in a medication-free state and 50 healthy controls (HCs) were evaluated.
• After that, DTI tractography was performed in BPD patients and HCs.
• Finally, The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), Profile of Mood State (POMS), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Social Adaptation Self-Evaluation Scale (SASS), and Depression and Anxiety Cognition Scale (DACS) were administered to BPD patients and HCs.

Results

• According to the findings obtained, a tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) showed that the BPD group had three clusters with a significantly lower axial diffusivity (AD) than the HC group: one located mainly in the cingulum and the other mainly in the inferior front-occipital fasciculus and inferior longitudinal fasciculus.
• Regarding the AD values, one cluster correlated negatively and significantly with POMS (Depression) and it was located in the cingulum.
• On the other hand, another cluster correlated positively and significantly with DACS (Future Denial) and it was located in the inferior front-occipital fasciculus (IFOF).