Hall, N. T. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2022

Right anterior insula effective connectivity impairs intrinsic BOLD fluctuations in dorsal attention network in adolescents and young adults with borderline personality symptoms

BackgroundBorderline Personality Disorder (BPD) symptoms often emerge in adolescence. However, little is known about the functional organization of intrinsic brain networks in young people with BPD symptoms. MethodsIn this study we collected resting-state fMRI data in a sample of adolescents and young adults with (nBPD = 40) and without BPD (nHC= 42) symptoms. Using a detailed cortico-limbic parcellation coupled with graph theoretical analyses, we tested for group and age-related differences in regional functional and effective connectivity (FC, EC) and amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFF). We conducted a series of analyses that progressed from global network properties to focal tests of EC amongst nodes in Salience (SN) and Dorsal Attention Networks (DAN). ResultsAt the regional level, regularized regression analyses revealed a broad pattern of hyper-connectivity and heightened ALFF in R dorsal anterior insula (daIns), in addition to hypoconnectivity in R temporal-parietal junction (TPJ) and decreased ALFF in multiple DAN regions. Furthermore, analyses of EC amongst daIns, TPJ, and DAN revealed that in BPD participants daIns exerts a heightened influence on TPJ and DAN regions. Finally, multivariate mediation models indicated that lower DANALFF was differentially predicted by EC from TPJ and daIns. ConclusionsOur findings provide converging evidence that heightened EC from daIns impairs network-wide ALFF in DAN both directly and indirectly via impaired TPJ functioning. We interpret this pattern of findings in line with an "attentional hijacking" account of borderline personality.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

Dissociation in basolateral and central amygdala effective connectivity predicts the stability of emotion-related impulsivity in adolescents with borderline personality symptoms: a resting-state fMRI study

BackgroundBorderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with altered activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and amygdala, yet no studies have examined fronto-limbic circuitry in borderline adolescents. Here, we examined the contribution of fronto-limbic connectivity to the longitudinal stability of emotion-related impulsivity (ERI), a key feature of BPD, in symptomatic adolescents and young adults. MethodsWe compared resting-state effective connectivity (EC) in 82 adolescents and emerging adults with and without clinically significant borderline symptoms (n BPD = 40, ages 13-30). Group-specific directed networks were estimated amongst fronto-limbic nodes including PFC, ventral striatum (VS), central amygdala (CeN), and basolateral amygdala (BLA). We calculated directed centrality metrics and examined if these values were associated with initial levels and rates of change in ERI symptoms over a one-year follow-up using latent growth curve models (LGCMs). ResultsIn the healthy group, ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and dorsal ACC had a directed influence on CeN and VS respectively. In the borderline group bilateral BLA had a directed influence on CeN, whereas in the healthy group CeN influenced BLA. LGCMs revealed that in borderline adolescents, ERI remained stable across follow-ups. Further, higher output of R CeN in controls was associated with stronger within-person decreases in ERI. ConclusionsFunctional inputs from BLA and vmPFC appear to play competing roles in influencing CeN activity. In borderline adolescents BLA may predominate over CeN activity, while in controls the ability of CeN to conversely influence BLA activity is associated with more rapid reductions in ERI.

neuroscience↗