Acute glucocorticoid effects on response inhibition in borderline personality disorder

TY - JOUR

T1 - Acute glucocorticoid effects on response inhibition in borderline personality disorder

AU - Carvalho Fernando, Silvia

AU - Beblo, Thomas

AU - Schlosser, Nicole

AU - Terfehr, Kirsten

AU - Wolf, Oliver Tobias

AU - Otte, Christian

AU - Löwe, Bernd

AU - Spitzer, Carsten

AU - Driessen, Martin

AU - Wingenfeld, Katja

N1 - Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PY - 2013/11/1

Y1 - 2013/11/1

N2 - INTRODUCTION: Growing evidence suggests inhibition dysfunctions in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Moreover, abnormalities in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning have also been found in BPD patients. In healthy individuals, response inhibition has been sensitive to acute stress, and previous research indicates that effects mediated by the HPA axis become particularly apparent when emotional stimuli are processed. This study aimed to explore the influence of acute hydrocortisone administration on response inhibition of emotional stimuli in BPD patients compared to healthy control participants.METHODS: After a single administration of 10mg hydrocortisone or placebo, 32 female BPD patients and 32 healthy female participants performed an adapted emotional go/no-go paradigm to assess response inhibition for emotional face stimuli in a cross-over study.RESULTS: Acute cortisol elevations decreased the reaction times to target stimuli in both BPD patients and healthy controls. Patients and controls did not differ in task performance; however, BPD patients with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) displayed longer reaction times than patients without PTSD. In contrast, the occurrence of comorbid eating disorder had no significant impact on go/no-go performance. No significant interaction effect between the treatment condition and the emotional valence of the face stimuli was found.CONCLUSIONS: Acute hydrocortisone administration enhances response inhibition of face stimuli in BPD patients and healthy controls, regardless of their emotional valence. Our results agree with the suggestion that moderate cortisol enhancement increases the inhibition of task-irrelevant distracters.

AB - INTRODUCTION: Growing evidence suggests inhibition dysfunctions in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Moreover, abnormalities in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning have also been found in BPD patients. In healthy individuals, response inhibition has been sensitive to acute stress, and previous research indicates that effects mediated by the HPA axis become particularly apparent when emotional stimuli are processed. This study aimed to explore the influence of acute hydrocortisone administration on response inhibition of emotional stimuli in BPD patients compared to healthy control participants.METHODS: After a single administration of 10mg hydrocortisone or placebo, 32 female BPD patients and 32 healthy female participants performed an adapted emotional go/no-go paradigm to assess response inhibition for emotional face stimuli in a cross-over study.RESULTS: Acute cortisol elevations decreased the reaction times to target stimuli in both BPD patients and healthy controls. Patients and controls did not differ in task performance; however, BPD patients with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) displayed longer reaction times than patients without PTSD. In contrast, the occurrence of comorbid eating disorder had no significant impact on go/no-go performance. No significant interaction effect between the treatment condition and the emotional valence of the face stimuli was found.CONCLUSIONS: Acute hydrocortisone administration enhances response inhibition of face stimuli in BPD patients and healthy controls, regardless of their emotional valence. Our results agree with the suggestion that moderate cortisol enhancement increases the inhibition of task-irrelevant distracters.

KW - Adult

KW - Borderline Personality Disorder

KW - Cross-Over Studies

KW - Double-Blind Method

KW - Eating Disorders

KW - Facial Expression

KW - Female

KW - Glucocorticoids

KW - Humans

KW - Hydrocortisone

KW - Inhibition (Psychology)

KW - Psychomotor Performance

KW - Saliva

KW - Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

U2 - 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.07.008

DO - 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.07.008

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 23953929

VL - 38

SP - 2780

EP - 2788

JO - PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINO

JF - PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINO

SN - 0306-4530

IS - 11

ER -