Download Trait and Emotion Appraisal in Borderline Personality Disorder

Arnold Pfeffer Centre for Neuropsychoanalysis
at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute
Neuropsychoanalysis Lecture Series
on Saturday, November 6, 2010 at 10:00 am
Testing Psychoanalysis in the Scanner: Current
Neuropsychoanalytic Research
At our November meeting, a panel of young investigators conducting
fMRI research will discuss their ongoing studies. They will review the
background of their particular research questions, discuss some of the
challenges and solutions they have encountered in operationalizing their
psychoanalytic constructs, and, where possible, present pilot data.
This exciting program will be educational for clinicians interested in
processes that are relevant to day-to-day work in the consulting room, and
provide a basis for those interested in research to think about how we go
about developing proper neuropsychoanalytic studies.
Panel:
Trait and Emotion Appraisal in Borderline Personality Disorder: Social Psychological
and Neural Findings
Eric A. Fertuck, Ph.D., City University of New York, New York State Psychiatric Institute,
and the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a serious syndrome that is partly
characterized by unstable interpersonal relationships and frantic efforts to avoid
abandonment. Despite a long psychoanalytic tradition of theorizing about these
symptoms, only recently have the social and cognitive bases for these
impairments begun to be illuminated through empirical research.
This
presentation will outline a series of studies that investigate the social cognition of
BPD using social psychological, psychophysical, and neural approaches. The
relevance of these findings for psychoanalysis will be discussed.
Mental Representation, Social Cognition, and Functional Neuroimaging: A MultiLevel Approach to Borderline Personality Disorder
Jeffrey K. Erbe, M.Sc., The Graduate Center (CUNY) and New York State Psychiatric
Institute
This research project focuses on the intersection of neuroimaging, social
cognition, and narrative assessment of mental representations using the Object
Relations Inventory (ORI) and the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). By
investigating multiple levels of BPD, the concordance between subjective
experience, appraisal of social stimuli, and regional brain activation can be
rigorously investigated.
Borderline Personality Disorder, Schizotypal Personality Disorder, and Empathic
Accuracy
Luis Ripoll, M.D., Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
This research project seeks to better understand the interpersonal dysfunction in
borderline personality disorder (BPD) and schizotypal personality disorder
(SPD) and investigate the underlying neurobiology for this aspect of
psychopathology, and different avenues of treatment. Although still in the early
phases of data collection, I will present background research in affective
processing and alexithymia in BPD, and a research plan for further
understanding dysfunctional mentalizing in these personality disorders. The
focus will be on a well-validated, naturalistic Empathic Accuracy paradigm,
relying on matching perceivers' efforts at emotional state attribution of a target to
the target's own self-appraisal of their emotional state. Future research utilizing
this paradigm and psychoanalytic implications will also be discussed.
Can Fear Be Reduced Without Awareness? A Neuropsychoanalytic Paradigm
Paul Siegel, Ph.D., Purchase College, State University of New York
Although Freud’s idea of unconscious conflict is perhaps his most enduring
intellectual legacy, experimental demonstrations of unconscious conflict are rare.
This study tested whether unconscious exposure to phobic stimuli can reduce
fear, by comparing the effects of conscious and unconscious exposure to a live
tarantula. We found a double dissociation: unconscious exposure reduced
avoidance of the tarantula and did not affect subjective distress, whereas
conscious exposure increased distress but did not affect avoidance. Theoretical
implications will be discussed, given that experiments have rarely been able to
pit psychoanalytic and cognitive-behavioral theory against each other.
ALL WELCOME!
www.neuropsa.org
The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME)
to sponsor continuing medical education for physicians. This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the
Essentials Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint
sponsorship of The American Psychoanalytic Association and The New York Psychoanalytic Institute/Society. The American
Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians and takes
responsibility for the content, quality, and scientific integrity of this CME activity. The American Psychoanalytic Association
designates this educational activity for a maximum of 2 hours in category 1 credit towards the AMA Physician's Recognition
Award. Each physician should claim only those hours of credit that he/she actually spent in the educational activity. IMPORTANT
DISCLOSURE INFORMATION FOR ALL LEARNERS: None of the planners and presenters of this CME program have any
relevant financial relationships to disclose.