Assessing the marks of change: how psychotherapy alters the brain structure in women with borderline personality disorder

Abstract

We found that DBT increased grey matter volume of brain regions that are critically implicated in emotion regulation and higher-order functions, such as mentalizing. The role of the angular gyrus for treatment response may reside in its cross-modal integrative function. These findings enhance our understanding of psychotherapy mechanisms of change and may foster the development of neurobiologically informed therapeutic interventions.

Neurobiological Mechanisms Mediating Emotion Dysregulation as Targets of Change in Borderline Personality Disorder

“…Structural analyses of gray matter volumes before and after DBT using voxel-based volumetry revealed increased volumes in the rostral and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and in the orbital part of the right inferior frontal gyrus, as well as in the left superior temporal gyrus, angular gyrus, and supramarginal gyrus in the DBT compared to the TAU group in patients with BPD [24]. These first findings may indicate that DBT induces changes in gray matter volumes by stimulation of attentional processes and inhibitory control.…”

Borderline Personality Traits and Emotion Regulation Strategies in Adolescents: The Role of Implicit Theories

“…Furthermore, the sample population was receiving some form of treatment as part of their inpatient stay, we do not know if the intervention worked or if people changed their implicit beliefs because of treatment in the facility. Research has indicated that both psychological and psychiatric interventions may drive changes at a behavioural, functional, and neurological level [48][49][50] for psychotic and non-psychotic disorders. Many of the participants were receiving psychological and psychiatric interventions during their stay on the units.…”

Biopsychosocial Model in Contemporary Psychiatry: Current Validity and Future Prospects

“…Psychotherapy research in depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and personality disorders have proven that effective therapy normalizes basal brain metabolism and basal cerebral blood flow, and they resemble neurobiological changes after successful psychopharmacological treatments. [13][14][15] This provides evidence for the bridge between the two models: biopsychosocial and biomedical.…”