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Related Experiment Videos

Borderline personality disorder, impulsivity, and the orbitofrontal cortex.

Heather A Berlin1, Edmund T Rolls, Susan D Iversen

  • 1Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford. hberlin@post.harvard.edu

The American Journal of Psychiatry
|December 7, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Orbitofrontal cortex dysfunction is linked to impulsivity in borderline personality disorder. Similarities were found between patients with orbitofrontal cortex lesions and borderline personality disorder, suggesting a potential etiological connection.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry
  • Cognitive Psychology

Background:

  • Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) lesions are associated with disinhibition and emotional dysregulation.
  • Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by impulsivity and affective instability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between borderline personality disorder (BPD) characteristics, particularly impulsivity, and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) dysfunction.
  • To compare behavioral and cognitive performance in patients with BPD, OFC lesions, other prefrontal cortex lesions, and healthy controls.

Main Methods:

  • Administered measures of personality, emotion, impulsivity, time perception, sensitivity to reinforcers, and spatial working memory.
  • Included groups: BPD patients (N=19), OFC lesion patients (N=23), other prefrontal cortex lesion patients (N=20), and healthy controls (N=39).

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Main Results:

  • Patients with OFC lesions and BPD patients exhibited similar impulsivity, inappropriate behaviors, anger, and faster time perception.
  • BPD patients showed greater neuroticism and emotionality, while OFC patients had deficits in stimulus-reinforcer reversal learning.

Conclusions:

  • OFC dysfunction may underlie impulsivity in BPD.
  • High emotionality in BPD may not stem from OFC damage.
  • Comparing BPD and OFC lesion patients offers insights into BPD etiology and OFC function.