تحریک جریان الکتریکی مکررا قشر خلفی- قدامی مغز بر بهبود عملکردهای اجرایی، تنظیم شناختی ارزیابی مجدد احساسات و کنترل بر احساسات پردازش در اختلال شخصیت مرزی: یک مطالعه تصادفی، شاهد کنترل شده، گروه شم

عنوان انگليسی

Repeated transcranial direct current stimulation of dorsolateral-prefrontal cortex improves executive functions, cognitive reappraisal emotion regulation, and control over emotional processing in borderline personality disorder: A randomized, sham-controlled, parallel-group study

خلاصه انگلیسی

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is primarily characterized by deficient emotion regulation. Impaired cognitive control over negative emotions is central to emotion dysregulation in BPD. Respective executive dysfunctions are associated with hypoactivation of prefrontal regions, and consecutive alterations of fronto-limbic network functionality. Here, we investigated the effect of increasing activity of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on (1) executive dysfunctions and (2) whether improving cognitive control affects emotion dysregulation and emotional processing in BPD. Methods Thirty-two patients diagnosed with BPD were randomly assigned to active stimulation (N=16) or sham stimulation (N=16) groups in a randomized, sham-controlled, parallel-group trial. They received 10 sessions of active (2 mA, 20 min, anodal left- cathodal right DLPFC) or sham tDCS over 10 days. Major executive functions, emotion dysregulation, and emotional processing of the patients were assessed before and immediately after the intervention. Results The active stimulation group showed a significant improvement in major executive function domains. Importantly, cognitive reappraisal of emotion dysregulation and several factors of emotional processing involved in the control of emotional processing were significantly improved in the active stimulation group. Factors related to emotional expression were however not affected. Limitations The single-blind design, absence of follow-up measures, and the intrinsically limited focality of tDCS are limitations of this study. Conclusions Increasing activity of the DLPFC improves executive functioning in BPD and improves ´cognitive control over negative emotions. Cognitive control interventions could be a potential therapeutic approach in BPD.

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