[Neurobiological aspects of personality disorders and emotional instability]

Neurobiological aspects of personality disorders and emotional instability ADHD and mental disorders encompassing emotional instability such as emotionally unstable personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder can potentially be explained by a suboptimal regulation of information processing in the brain. ADHD involves suboptimal function of non-emotional attentional regulatory processes and emotional instability involves suboptimal emotional regulation. A network including prefrontal areas, anterior cingulate cortex, basal ganglia and specific neuromodulatory systems such as the dopamine system are dysfunctional in both ADHD and emotional instability. One might suggest that a dimensional view better describes these mental states than categorical diagnoses.