Borderline personality disorder and its symptom clusters: A review of positron emission tomography and single photon emission computed tomography studies.

Positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) are two neuroimaging techniques that have led to important insights into the pathophysiology of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and its symptom clusters. This paper provides the most up-to-date review of PET and SPECT studies targeting BPD. A systematic search of PET and SPECT studies using the databases PsycINFO, PubMed, and Embase was implemented, which yielded 30 articles in the end. Earlier PET studies largely reported decreased glucose metabolism in prefrontal brain regions. More recent PET research has pointed to alterations in monoaminergic systems, greater activation of the opioid system during sadness induction, as well as abnormalities of the brain endocannabinoid system in BPD. SPECT studies of BPD mainly identified changes in regional cerebral blood flow and alterations of the serotonergic system. Such PET and SPECT study abnormalities have been suggested to relate to the symptomatology of BPD, including impulsivity, aggression, and mood changes. The implications of these neuroimaging studies in terms of shedding new light on the pathophysiology of BPD and providing new avenues for drug development are discussed.