Christian Schmahl

..Our results suggest an association of PTSD with reduced pain sensitivity, which could be related to PTSD-related (neuro-)psychological alterations or to a pre-existing risk factor for the disorder...

..A divergence in pathophysiology in these two disorders is suggested that may be linked to childhood trauma. However, this interpretation must be tested in a larger population...

..Dysfunction in a frontolimbic network is suggested to mediate much, if not all of the borderline symptomatology...

..These findings suggest that hypoalgesia in BPD may primarily be due to altered intracortical processing similar to certain meditative states...

..This study aimed at clarifying whether central antinoceptive mechanisms discriminate BPD patients with and without co-occurrent PTSD...

..Impulsivity is a key feature of BPD and can be related to anterior cingulate cortex function...

..Our aim was to investigate the psychologic, somatosensory (pain sensitivity) and neural correlates of dissociative states in patients with these disorders...

..This study provides new insights in pain processing in BPD, including enhanced coupling of limbic structures and basal ganglia...

..To establish whether these findings are specific for BPD, we compared pain thresholds in patients with BPD, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bulimia nervosa, and healthy controls...

..We predicted that heat stimuli in patients with BPD would activate brain areas concerned with cognitive and emotional evaluation of pain...

..We suggest that stress levels and co-occurring ADHD should receive attention in future studies on impulsivity in BPD...

..The results suggest that dissociation in borderline-patients should be closely monitored and targeted during DBT. At this stage, research on treatment of dissociation (e.g., specific skills training) is warranted...

..The aim of our study was to determine whether high states of dissociative experience would specifically alter emotional learning, but not declarative knowledge...

..Findings in healthy subjects indicate that painful stimulation leads to blood oxygenation level-dependent signal decreases and changes in the functional architecture of the DMN...

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..The effects of inpatient dialectical behavior therapy seem to persist after patients returned to their usual lives...

..Both groups exhibit volume reductions of the hippocampus and amygdala. Our aim was to investigate the influence of comorbid PTSD on hippocampus and amygdala volumes in patients with BPD...

..However, the effects were too small to reach statistical significance. Our data provide the first estimate of the pure pharmacological antidissociative efficacy of naltrexone from a rigorously designed trial...

..0 T in which we acquire data within only the small amygdala. The purpose of this study was to determine alterations of the metabolism in the amygdala in BPD patients...

..As social-evaluative threat is not the main stress component of the MMST, this procedure represents a useful and complementary alternative to other established stress protocols...

..Pain in BPD has further been observed to lead to a reduction in neural activity in the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex, which may be attributed to patients' perception of relaxation...

..Therefore, these findings convey a good impression of the current findings from neuroimaging research in this disorder and also of the necessary next steps with regard to content and methodology...

..This makes former assumptions plausible that hypnosis and severe forms of dissociation (or conversion) may share common aetiologies...

..Most of the neuropsychologic, physiologic, endocrinologic, and neuroimaging data support the theory that a dual brain pathology, affecting prefrontal and limbic circuits, may underlie this hyperarousal-dyscontrol syndrome...

..NSSI was usually preceded by a large variety of negative feelings that were reported to clearly improve with NSSI. In conclusion, therapists should anticipate a multidimensional functional spectrum when exploring motives of NSSI...

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..There was no association between memory performance and cortisol levels. These results are consistent with higher cortisol levels following exposure to traumatic stressors in PTSD...

..These brain areas might mediate trauma-related symptoms, such as dissociation or affective instability, in patients with BPD...

..These brain areas may mediate symptoms of BPD...

..9% smaller mean amygdala volume and a 13.1% smaller hippocampal volume, compared to controls. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that alterations in the hippocampus and amygdala are associated with BPD...

..Genetic and environmental factors lead to brain alterations that are the basis for specific presentations of the disorder, such as self-injurious and impulsive aggressive behavior...