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Neuropsychological functioning in patients with borderline personality disorder
J Sprock1, T J Rader, J P Kendall
1Indiana State University, Psychology Department, Terre Haute 47809, USA.
Journal of Clinical Psychology
|January 2, 2001
Summary
This study found that individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) did not show significant cognitive deficits compared to controls. Emotional stimuli also did not impact BPD group performance on cognitive tasks.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is often associated with cognitive deficits.
- Previous research suggests frontal- and temporal-lobe dysfunction in BPD.
- Findings on cognitive functioning in BPD have been variable.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate cognitive functioning in BPD patients.
- To assess the impact of emotional stimuli on cognitive performance in BPD.
- To compare BPD patients with depressed patients and healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- 18 patients diagnosed with BPD were compared to 18 depressed patients and 18 controls.
- Participants completed a series of neuropsychological tasks.
- Emotional stimuli and interference were incorporated into tasks to assess emotion's role.
Main Results:
- The BPD group did not differ from the control group on most executive functioning and memory tasks.
- Emotional stimuli did not impair the cognitive performance of the BPD group.
- The depressed group performed significantly worse than both the BPD and control groups.
Conclusions:
- The study found little support for the neurobehavioral hypothesis of BPD.
- Cognitive functioning in BPD may be heterogeneous, with deficits potentially limited to a subgroup.
- Depression, rather than BPD, was associated with poorer cognitive performance in this study.