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Consumers
with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been found
to have smaller hippocampal volumes in the brain. The hippocampus
is involved in memory and the regulation of emotion. Smaller
volumes of this brain structure were correlated with armed
forces combat exposure and dissociative symptoms in PTSD consumers.
Based
on these findings, researchers conducted a study to see if
consumers with borderline personality disorder (BPD), who
often are victims of early traumatization, have smaller volumes
of the hippocampus. Twenty-one female consumers with a DSM-IV
diagnosis of BPD and a comparative non-consumer group were
studied.
The consumers
were evaluated using clinical assessments, a childhood-trauma
questionnaire, and magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI) measurements
of the hippocampus and other brain structures. The consumers
with BPD reported significantly more long-lasting traumatic
experiences than the non-consumer participants did. Researchers
found that the participants with BPD had approximately 16
percent smaller volumes of the hippocampus than the non-consumer
controls when total brain volume was factored in. However,
the direct relationship between reduced hippocampal volume
and traumatic experience was unclear. Further studies are
needed to clarify this relationship in consumers with BPD.
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