The Neurobiology of Borderline Personality Disorder

Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2018 Dec;41(4):633-650. doi: 10.1016/j.psc.2018.07.012.

Abstract

This article reviews the most salient neurobiological information available about borderline personality disorder (BPD) and presents a theoretic model for what lies at the heart of BPD that is grounded in those findings. It reviews the heritability, genetics, and the biological models of BPD, including the neurobiology of affective instability, impaired interoception, oxytocin and opiate models of poor attachment or interpersonal dysfunction, and structural brain imaging over the course of development in BPD; and posits that the core characteristic of BPD may be an impairment in emotional interoception or alexithymia.

Keywords: Alexithymia; Borderline personality disorder; Emotion dysregulation; Genetics; Impulsive aggression; Neuroimaging; Opioids; Oxytocin.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Borderline Personality Disorder* / genetics
  • Emotions / physiology
  • Humans
  • Impulsive Behavior*
  • Interoception / physiology*
  • Models, Biological
  • Neurobiology*
  • Neuroimaging
  • Oxytocin

Substances

  • Oxytocin