Neuropsychology of borderline personality disorder

In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of research into the neural substrates underlying borderline personality disorder. Neuropsychological research offers two complementary benefits: an improved characterization of the cognitive and emotional deficits associated with the diagnosis (or constellations of traits associated with BPD), and a method of refining hypotheses concerning the kinds of psychological mechanisms that mediate between brain dysfunction in the disorder and its clinical presentation. This contribution outlines the major neuropsychological findings in BPD. It begins by looking at some of the major methodological difficulties in this field, summarizes the most prevalent impairments and points to the emergent patterns.