Cortical haemodynamic response measured by functional near infrared spectroscopy during a verbal fluency task in patients with major depression and borderline personality disorder

Syeda F. Husain, Tong-Boon Tang, Rongjun Yu, Wilson W. Tam, Bach Tran, Travis T. Quek, Shi-Hui Hwang, Cheryl W. Chang, Cyrus S. Ho, Roger C. Ho*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

    110 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Background: Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) provides a direct and quantitative assessment of cortical haemodynamic function during a cognitive task. This functional neuroimaging modality may be used to elucidate the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders, and identify neurophysiological differences between co-occurring psychiatric disorders. However, fNIRS research on borderline personality disorder (BPD) has been limited. Hence, this study aimed to compare cerebral haemodynamic function in healthy controls (HC), patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and patients with BPD.

    Methods: fNIRS signals during a verbal fluency task designed for clinical assessment was recorded for all participants. Demographics, clinical history and symptom severity were also noted.

    Findings: Compared to HCs (n = 31), both patient groups (MDD, n = 31; BPD, n = 31) displayed diminished haemodynamic response in the frontal, temporal and parietal cortices. Moreover, haemodynamic response in the right frontal cortex is markedly lower in patients with MDD compared to patients with BPD.

    Interpretation: Normal cortical function in patients with BPD is disrupted, but not as extensively as in patients with MDD. These results provide further neurophysiological evidence for the distinction of patients with MDD from patients with BPD.
    Original languageEnglish
    Article number102586
    Number of pages16
    JournalEBioMedicine
    Volume51
    Early online date24 Dec 2019
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jan 2020

    User-Defined Keywords

    • Near-infrared spectroscopy
    • Verbal fluency task
    • Prefrontal cortex
    • Haemodynamic response
    • Borderline personality disorder
    • Major depressive disorder

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