Positron-Emission Tomography and Personality Disorders (original) (raw)
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Brain glucose metabolism in borderline personality disorder
Journal of Psychiatric Research, 1997
We searched for regional cerebral metabolic disturbances in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Ten inpatients with BPD, no current DSM-1IIR Axis I diagnosis and free of any psychotropic substances, were compared with 15 age-matched control subjects using positron emission tomography with 2-deoxy-2-[~SF]fluoro-D-glucose and semiquantitative analysis of regional glucose metabolic activity. We found relative hypometabolism in patients with borderline personality disorder at the level of the premotor and prefrontal cortical areas, the anterior part of the cingulate cortex and the thalamic, caudate and lenticular nuclei. This study shows significant cerebral metabolic disturbances in patients with borderline personality disorder. These metabolic disturbances, which are similar to some of those described in other psychiatric entities, may help to understand the characteristic clinical aspects of this disorder. 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.
Regional brain cerebral glucose metabolism and temperament: A positron emission tomography study
Neuroscience Letters, 2006
Personality, and in particular temperament, is thought to have a biological basis. In the present study, the relationships between regional brain glucose metabolism and temperament have been investigated. Regional brain glucose metabolism was measured using [ 18 F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in 31 healthy subjects. Temperament was assessed using the Temperament and Character Inventory. Temperament dimensions were observed to be significantly correlated with specific brain regions. In particular, novelty seeking was significantly correlated with the superior temporal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, and the precuneus, which have been reported to be related with impulsiveness, while reward dependence was significantly correlated with the caudate head, which has been shown to be associated with reward processing. The various aspects of temperament may have biological bases in the specific brain regions. The accumulation of results from studies of this kind should provide further evidence connecting personality traits with their biological bases.
Positron emission tomography in female patients with Borderline personality disorder
Journal of Psychiatric Research, 2003
The pathology of Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is poorly understood and its biological basis remains largely unknown. One functional brain imaging study using [ 18 F]Deoxyglucose-PET previously reported frontal and prefrontal hypometabolism. We studied brain metabolism at baseline in 12 medication-free female patients with BPD without current substance abuse or depression and 12 healthy female controls by [ 18 F]Deoxyglucose-PET and statistical parametric mapping. We found significant frontal and prefrontal hypermetabolism in patients with BPD relative to controls as well as significant hypometabolism in the hippocampus and cuneus. This study demonstrated limbic and prefrontal dysfunction under resting conditions in patients with BPD by FDG-PET. Dysfunction in this network of brain regions, which has been implicated in the regulation of emotion, may underlie symptoms of BPD.
Brain perfusion SPECT in impulsivity-related personality disorders
Behavioural Brain Research, 2005
Background: Impulsive behaviours in patients with cluster B personality disorders are associated with low glucose metabolism and regional cerebral blood flow in the frontal cortex and subcortical structures. The aim of this study is to confirm the presence of a particular pattern of brain perfusion in a sample of borderline (BPD) and anti-social personality disorder (ASPD) patients using brain perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Methods: A brain perfusion SPECT study was performed in 37 patients with BPD or ASPD (and no Axis I diagnosis) and 34 healthy control participants. Data were acquired on a triple head Toshiba gamma camera. Scatter and attenuation correction was done. Reconstructed SPECT images were analyzed by Statistical Parametrical Mapping (SPM99). Results: There were no significant differences in age and gender distributions between the patients and the healthy controls. With regard to the functional imaging results, patients were characterized by a reduced regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in right temporal and prefrontal brain areas, including the right lateral temporal cortex (BA 21), the right frontopolar cortex (BA 10) and the right ventrolateral prefontal cortex (BA 47). Conclusions: Patients with BPD and ASPD who showed impulsive behaviour have diminished rCBF in areas of the right prefrontal and temporal cortex.
Positron emission tomography in male violent offenders with schizophrenia
Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 1997
The FDG PET brain scans from 31 offenders with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder from a maximum security mental hospital were compared with those of normal controls (N = 6) in terms of relative FDG uptake in a range of regions covering frontal and temporal regions. The patient sample was divided into those who had a history of repetitive violent offending (RVO, N = 17) and those without a repetitive violent history (NRVO, N = 14) according to the violence rating of their pre-admission convictions. Reduced FDG uptake was noted at both the right and left anterior inferior temporal (R and L AIT) regions in NRVOs but only at LAIT in RVOs. NRVOs had significantly lower FDG uptake at RAIT than RVOs. The findings suggest that metabolic changes at AIT may be related to different patterns of violent offending in patients with schizophrenia.
Journal of Affective Disorders, 2011
Several functional neuroimaging studies have demonstrated abnormalities in fronto-limbic pathways when comparing borderline personality disorder (BPD) patients with controls. The present study aimed to evaluate regional cerebral metabolism in euthymic BPD patients with similar measured impulsivity levels by means of 18F-FDG PET during resting state and to compare them against a control group. Methods: The present study evaluates regional cerebral metabolism in 8 euthymic BPD patients with 18F-FDG PET during resting state as compared to 8 controls with similar socio-geographic characteristics. Results: BPD patients presented a marked hypo-metabolism in frontal lobe and showed hypermetabolism in motor cortex (paracentral lobules and post-central cortex), medial and anterior cingulus, occipital lobe, temporal pole, left superior parietal gyrus and right superior frontal gyrus. No significant differences appeared in basal ganglia or thalamus. Conclusions: Results reveal a dysfunction in patients' frontolimbic network during rest and provide further evidence for the importance of these regions in relation to BPD symptomatology.
Temporal glucose metabolism in borderline personality disorder
Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 1994
The pathophysiology of borderline personality disorder (BPD) is obscure. Underlying organic factors such as epilepsy are suspected because clinical characteristics of the syndrome are similar to some manifestations of patients with complex partial seizures (CPS). Positron emission tomography (PET) with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) reveals hypometabolism in the area surrounding epileptic foci. To test the epilepsy hypothesis in BPD, we have explored 10 patients with BPD and compared them with 15 control subjects using PET with FDG. We conclude that PET provides no metabolic indication of temporal lobe epilepsy in BPD.
…, 1999
Reduced serotonergic activity has been associated with impulsive aggression in personality disordered patients in metabolite and pharmacologic challenge studies. This study used positron emission tomography to explore whether reduced serotonergic function occurs in critical brain regions such as orbital frontal and cingulate cortex that may play a role in modulating aggression. Six impulsiveaggressive patients and five healthy volunteers were evaluated for changes in regional glucose metabolism after administration of the serotonergic releasing agent d,lfenfluramine (60 mg, p.o.) or placebo. Volunteers demonstrated increases in orbital frontal and adjacent ventral medial frontal cortex, cingulate, and inferior parietal cortex, whereas impulsive-aggressive patients showed no significant increases in glucose metabolism after fenfluramine in any region. Compared with volunteers, patients showed significantly blunted metabolic responses in orbital frontal, adjacent ventral medial and cingulate cortex, but not in inferior parietal lobe. These results are consistent with reduced serotonergic modulation of orbital frontal, ventral medial frontal, and cingulate cortex in patients with impulsive-aggressive personality disorders. Talairach J, Tournoux P (1988): Co-planar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain. New York, Thieme Virkkunen M, Muutila A, Goodwin FK, Linnoila M (1987): Cerebrospinal fluid metabolite levels in male arsonists. Arch Gen Psychiatry 44:241-247 Volkow ND, Tancredi L (1987): Neural substrates of violent behavior: A preliminary study with positron emission tomography. Br J Psychiatry 151:668-673 Volavka J (1995): Neurological, neuropsychological, and electrophysiological correlates of violent behavior, in Neurobiology of Violence. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press Weir E, Reeve H, Huang J, Michelakis E, Nelson D, Hampl V, Archer S (1996): Anorexic agents aminorex, fenfluramine, and dexfenfluramine inhibit potassium current in rat pulmonary vascular smooth muscle and cause pulmonary vasoconstriction. Circulation 94(9):2216-2220 Yeudall LT (1977): Neuropsychological assessment of forensic disorders. Can Ment Health 25:7-15