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367

Title *

Cortical plasticity of the tactile mirror system in borderline personality disorderuse asterix (*) to get italics

Authors *

Agnese Zazio, Giacomo Guidali, Roberta Rossi, Nadia Bolognini, Marta BortolettoPlease use the format "First name initials family name" as in "Marie S. Curie, Niels H. D. Bohr, Albert Einstein, John R. R. Tolkien, Donna T. Strickland"

Year *

2023

Picture

Abstract *

People with borderline personality disorder (BPD) show alterations in empathic abilities, which may involve automatic simulation processes relying on mirror-like mechanisms in the somatosensory domain. In the tactile mirror system, the observation of a touch on someone else’s body activates a cortical network also involved in tactile perception, including the primary somatosensory cortex (S1). While alterations of mirror-like systems have been suggested in BPD, plasticity mechanisms within these systems are underexplored.  Here, we take advantage of a cross-modal paired associative stimulation (cm-PAS) protocol, a well-established non-invasive tool to induce brain plasticity, to shed light on possible neurophysiological alterations within the tactile mirror system in people with BPD. The study will involve 24 participants diagnosed with BPD and 24 healthy controls in a 2-session experiment. Both groups will be evaluated in their empathic abilities by means of self-report questionnaires. Participants will undergo a tactile acuity test and a visuo-tactile spatial congruity (VTSC) task, in counterbalanced order, before and after a cm-PAS protocol in which an image of a hand being touched will be repeatedly paired with a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) pulse over S1. The cm-PAS will differ between the two sessions in the time interval between the paired stimuli, i.e., 20 ms in the experimental session and 100 ms in the control session. The effects of the cm-PAS will be evaluated on tactile acuity, as an index of S1 activity, and on performance on the VTSC task, as an index of tactile mirror system functioning.

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Keywords (optional)

transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), brain plasticity, borderline personality disorder (BPD), paired associative stimulation (PAS), somatosensory domain, mirror neuron system

Methods that require specific expertise (optional)

NonePlease indicate the methods that may require specialised expertise during the peer review process (use a comma to separate various required expertises).

Thematic fields *

Life Sciences, Social sciences

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Submission date

2023-01-05 21:50:15

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Chris Chambers

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