A resting-state fMRI study in Borderline Personality Disorder combining Amplitude of Low Frequency Fluctuation, Regional Homogeneity and seed based Functional Connectivity

Abstract Background This resting-state fMRI study investigated the resting state brain function in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Methods Forty BPD patients and thirty-five controls were enrolled and scanned with a 3.0 T Philips Ingenia scanner. Rs-fMRI and structural images were preprocessed by DPARSF based on SPM8 on the MATLAB platform. To evaluate BPD related brain function alterations comprehensively, we analyzed the amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), and seed based functional connectivity (seed-based FC), three data-driven algorithms of rs-fMRI. Results were multiply corrected by REST AlphaSim program at the level of p < 0.05. Meanwhile, the correlation between imaging and psychological data was also performed in BPD patients. Results Compared with control group, BPD group showed decreased ALFF and ReHo both in the right posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and adjacent precuneus. With these two areas as seeds, disturbed functional connectivity mainly distributed in the frontotemporal and limbic structure in BPD group. There were no significant correlations found between imaging variables and psychological data. Limitations The sample size was relatively small, and no significant correlations were found between imaging variables and psychological data, which might limit the clinical application of these results. Conclusions Based on data-driven analysis, we discovered that the right PCC and precuneus were altered in resting state function in BPD. Combination with our previous Voxel Based Morphometry (VBM) study which has found increased gray matter volume (GMV) in the right PCC and precuneus, we confirmed that these two areas were core brain regions altered both in structure and function in BPD.