Twenty-one unmedicated BPD patients and 20 age-matched healthy control participants underwent 1H MRS to determine neurometabolite concentrations in the left amygdala. All participants underwent psychometric assessments.
Significantly reduced total N-acetylaspartate (tNAA) and total creatine (tCr) concentrations in the left amygdala of patients with BPD were found. BPD patients with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) showed lower levels of tCr compared with BPD patients without PTSD and healthy control subjects. No significant correlations between neurochemical concentrations and psychometric measures were found.
Decreased tNAA and tCr might indicate disturbed affect regulation and emotional information processing in the amygdala of BPD patients. These findings are consistent with many functional and structural neuroimaging studies and may help to explain the greater emotional reactivity of BPD patients.