NEURAL SUBSTRATE OF INTERPERSONAL DYSFUNCTION IN BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER

这个子项目是众多研究子项目之一

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. This project proposes to examine the neural circuitry underlying components of emotional information processing and social functioning in individuals with borderline personality disorder, individuals with current Major Depressive Disorder and healthy control subjects. We propose to examine affective responsiveness through a face viewing task and empathy through observing pictures and rating the experience of the people depicted in the pictures, while gathering FMRI BOLD response in event-related task designs. We will also characterize the social behavior and interpersonal interactions of all subjects with a naturalistic monitoring of social interactions using a method called "Event Contingent Recording". We will examine group differences in the two fMRI tasks and in the social interactions of the subjects. Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a disabling disorder characterized by dysfunction in affect regulation and impulse control often resulting in impaired interpersonal relationships and maladaptive behavioral patterns including aggression and self-destructive behavior. Major Depressive Disorder is similar to BPD in that it involves dysphoric affect, but individuals with MDD do not tend to have the same level of interpersonal symptoms that are seen in BPD. Including individuals with both MDD and BPD will allow us to tease apart the effect of depressed affect from more fundamental borderline pathology.