Grant: CIHR Clinician Scientist - Phase 1

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) are serious psychiatric illnesses that exact a high healthcare burden. BPD affects 2% of the population and is associated with debilitating symptoms such as extreme negative moods that often lead to self-harming behavior or suicide. There are currently no good treatments for reversing the severe negative moods of BPD. By contrast, ASPD is found in 7% of Canadian males. ASPD individuals cause much harm to those around them and are responsible for a disproportionate amount of violent crime through their reckless, impulsive behaviors without fear of consequences. We have no treatments that work to diminish the impulsivity and fearlessness that characterize ASPD. This study proposes to investigate the extreme negative moods in BPD and uncontrolled impulsivity in ASPD using a state-of-the-art brain imaging technique called positron emission tomography (PET). We believe that the excessive sadness seen in BPD may be caused by inflammation in brain regions that regulate mood. We propose using PET and the specialized brain radiotracer [18F]FEPPA to determine whether inflammation is present in BPD. With regard to ASPD, we believe that low amounts of a brain chemical called fatty acid amide hydrolase may contribute to the impulsivity and fearlessness seen in these individuals. We propose using a different innovative brain radiotracer called [11C]CURB to measure levels of fatty acid amide hydrolase with PET in ASPD. Identifying the brain chemicals that may be awry in BPD and ASPD could lead to treatments that target these chemical abnormalities and reduce the symptoms of these devastating illnesses.