Exploring brain plasticity in people with borderline personality disorder
Cortical Plasticity of the Tactile Mirror System in Borderline Personality Disorder
This study is testing a new brain stimulation technique to see if it can help improve empathy and social skills in people with borderline personality disorder.
Quick facts
| Phase | Not applicable |
|---|---|
| Study type | Interventional |
| Enrollment | 48 (estimated) |
| Ages | 18 Years to 40 Years |
| Sex | All |
| Sponsor | IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli Academic / other |
| Locations | 1 site (Brescia) |
| Trial ID | NCT06702215 on ClinicalTrials.gov |
What this trial studies
This study investigates the neurophysiological alterations in the Tactile Mirror System of individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) using a non-invasive technique called cross-modal paired associative stimulation (cm-PAS). The research aims to understand how brain plasticity may be affected in BPD, particularly in relation to empathic abilities and the functioning of the mirror neuron system. Participants will undergo assessments to evaluate their symptoms and interpersonal functioning, while cm-PAS will be applied to induce changes in synaptic efficacy within the brain's somatosensory cortex.
Who should consider this trial
Good fit: Ideal candidates for this study are right-handed individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
Not a fit: Patients who are left-handed or do not have a clinical diagnosis of borderline personality disorder may not benefit from this study.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this study could enhance our understanding of BPD and lead to improved therapeutic interventions targeting empathic abilities.
How similar studies have performed: While previous studies have suggested alterations in mirror systems in BPD, this specific approach using cm-PAS to explore brain plasticity is relatively novel.
Eligibility criteria
Show full inclusion / exclusion criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * All participants: right handedness (Edinburgh Handedness Inventory; Oldfield, 1971) * Patients group: clinical diagnosis of BPD. The severity of the symptoms will be assessed by means of the Zanarini rating scale for BPD (ZAN-BPD, Zanarini, 2003) and the Symptoms Check-list 90 Revised (SCL-90-R, Derogatis, 1994). Depressive symptoms will be evaluated with the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II, Beck, 1988), impulsiveness with the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS, Patton, Stanford, \& Barratt, 1995), and alexithymia with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20, Bagby, Taylor, \& Parker, 1994). Moreover, interpersonal functioning will be evaluated with the Interpersonal Problems (IIP, Pilkonis, Kim, Proietti, \& Barkham, 1996), and attachment style will be assessed with the Attachment Style Questionnaire (Feeney, Noller, \& Hanrahan, 1994). Finally, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ; Bernstein \& Fink, 1998) will be administered for the assessment of traumatic experiences, and the Inventory of statements about self-injury (ISAS, Klonsky \& Glenn, 2009) for the evaluation of self-harm. Exclusion Criteria: * All participants: Contraindication to TMS (Rossi et al., 2021) * All participants: Anamnesis or evidence of any central nervous system alteration * Patients group: Comorbidity with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, according to DSM-5, and in case of unstable pharmacological therapy
Where this trial is running
Brescia
- IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli — Brescia, Italy (Recruiting)
Study contacts
- Study coordinator: Agnese Zazio, PhD
- Email: azazio@fatebenefratelli.eu
- Phone: +39 0303501594
How to participate
- Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
- Visit the official trial page on ClinicalTrials.gov for the most current contact information and recruitment status.
- Contact the listed study coordinator or principal investigator to request pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.