Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Dec 20;11(1):19-31.
doi: 10.1002/ibra.12190. eCollection 2025 Spring.

Neuroanatomical and functional correlates in borderline personality disorder: A narrative review

Giulio Perrotta  1
Affiliations
Review

Neuroanatomical and functional correlates in borderline personality disorder: A narrative review

Giulio Perrotta. Ibrain. .

Abstract

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a dysfunctional, stable, and pervasive alteration in personality functioning with the inability to adapt to the environment, mental rigidity, and ego-syntonic. High suicidality in BPD patients underlines the significance of research into its pathology. While extensive research on the psychological and behavioral manifestations of BPD can be found in literature, the neuropsychological aspects of the disorder are still partially unknown, although the roles of certain brain structures in the manifestation of the pathology, such as the amygdala, hippocampus, insula, medial prefrontal and cingulate cortices, nucleus accumbens, and temporo-occipital areas, have already been clarified. This review aims to synthesize current knowledge of the neuroanatomical and functional correlates of BPD, providing insights that may inform future research and therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: amygdala; borderline; borderline personality disorder; limbic system; prefrontal.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta‐analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram template. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 2
Figure 2
Activation map showing regions in the amygdala slice in which activation exceeded the criterion threshold level of p < 0.05 for the normal control and borderline personality disorder groups for each of the four facial expressions. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 3
Figure 3
Enhanced neural activation within the left hippocampus during social exclusion compared to social inclusion conditions in the Cyberball paradigm. Results for healthy controls (A), patients with BPD (B), and comparison between the groups (C). Intersection of blue lines indicates the peak of each cluster, MNI‐coordinates are provided in the squared brackets. BPD, borderline personality disorder; HC, healthy control; MNI, Montreal Neurological Institute (x, y, and z coordinates are provided in mm). [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 4
Figure 4
Regions exhibiting decreased and increased regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) in patients with BPD compared to healthy controls. BPD, borderline personality disorder. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 5
Figure 5
Extracted CBF values (means and standard error) from medial and lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) clusters. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 6
Figure 6
Brain glass images indicating projections of hypoperfusion clusters in impulsivity‐related personality disorder. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. American Psychiatric Association (APA) . Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM‐V‐TR). Raffaello Cortina Ed; 2022.
    1. Colombo G. Psicopatologia Clinica. Cooperativa Libraria Ed; 2005.
    1. Kring AM, Johnson SL, Davison GC, et al. Psicologia Clinica. Quinta edizione italiana condotta sulla tredicesima edizione americana. Zanichelli Ed; 2016.
    1. Grant BF, Chou SP, Goldstein RB, et al. Prevalence, correlates, disability, and comorbidity of DSM‐IV borderline personality disorder: results from the Wave 2 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. J Clin Psychiatry. 2008;69(4):533‐545. 10.4088/jcp.v69n0404 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Perrotta G. Perrotta Integrative Clinical Interviews 3 (PICI‐3): development, regulation, updation, and validation of the psychometric instrument for the identification of functional and dysfunctional personality traits and diagnosis of psychopathological disorders, for children (8–10 years), preadolescents (11–13 years), adolescents (14–18 years), adults (19–69 years), and elders (70–90 years). Ibrain. 2024;10:146‐163. 10.1002/ibra.12148 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources