Reduced cortical and subcortical volumes in female adolescents with borderline personality disorder

Volumetric alterations in limbic structures have been detected in adults, but not in adolescents with borderline personality disorder (BPD). We examined adolescents in the early stages of BPD to provide a unique opportunity to investigate which parts of the brain are initially affected by the disorder before confounding factors such as long-term medication or chronicity can mask them. A group of 60 right-handed female adolescents between 14 and 18 years of age (20 patients with BPD, 20 clinical controls, and 20 healthy controls) underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Focus was on the examination of hippocampal and amygdalar volume differences. Furthermore, a cortical thickness analysis was conducted. FreeSurfer software detected significant group differences in the right and left hippocampus and in the right amygdala. Additionally, significant volume reductions in frontal (right middle frontal gyrus, orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus bilaterally), and parietal regions (superior parietal gyrus bilaterally) were found in adolescents with BPD compared with controls. No group differences in cortical thickness were revealed.