Effects of personal space intrusion in affective contexts: an fMRI investigation with women suffering from borderline personality disorder

The amygdala and the parietal cortex play a key role in the neural representation of personal space. Although the concept of personal space is clinically very relevant for borderline personality disorder (BPD), especially in affective contexts, it has not been investigated thus far with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In this fMRI study, 25 female BPD patients and 25 healthy women were exposed to photos of angry, disgusted and neutral facial expressions. All stimuli were once shown as still photos, and once were zoomed-in in order to simulate intrusion into one's own personal space. Approaching faces generally provoked activation of the amygdala and the somatosensory cortex. BPD patients showed an increased activation within both regions, but only toward approaching disgusted faces. Their amygdala activation in this specific condition positively correlated with self-disgust scores. Moreover, the clinical group indicated an enhanced personal distance preference, which was associated with parietal activation. The present study revealed altered personal space processing of BPD patients, especially in situations that relate to social contexts involving disgust. Future studies should focus on the temporal stability of personal space processing during the natural course of BPD as well as during therapy.