Symptom severity and disgust-related traits in borderline personality disorder: The role of amygdala subdivisions

• Voxel-based morphometry study on borderline personality disorder (BPD).
• Enhanced volume of the left laterobasal amygdala (LBA) in BPD.
• Positive correlation between LBA volume and symptom severity.
• Negative correlation between self-disgust, self-harm and somatosensory volume.

The majority of morphometric studies on borderline personality disorder (BPD) found that diagnosed patients have a reduced amygdala volume. We sought to extend this finding by focusing on amygdala subdivisions (centromedial, laterobasal, superficial) and their association with symptom severity and disgust-related traits. Additional disorder-/disgust-relevant regions (insula, somatosensory cortex) were also investigated. We compared structural imaging data from 25 female BPD patients and 25 healthy women via voxel-based morphometry. Scores on self-report measures for symptom severity, disgust proneness, and self-disgust were correlated with gray matter volume (GMV) of regions of interest. Relative to controls, BPD patients had more GMV in the laterobasal amygdala. The volume of this region was positively correlated with symptom severity. In contrast, GMV of the centromedial amygdala showed a negative correlation with symptom severity. The degree of reported self-injury and self-disgust correlated negatively with the volume of the secondary somatosensory cortex (SII). Our data point to a differential contribution of amygdala subdivisions to symptom severity in BPD. Future longitudinal studies should focus on these subregions and possible volume changes during the course of the disorder. The meaning of altered SII volume for dysfunctional auto-aggressive behavior needs further investigation.