Eye-Tracking and Borderline Personality Disorder: A Systematic Review
Abstract
Highlights What are the main findings? Across the seventeen studies reviewed, BPD patients showed a two-stage attentional pattern: fast initial fixations on the eye region of emotional and neutral faces, with shorter time spent on positive stimuli during prolonged viewing. Self-reported impulsivity was high, but performance on standard laboratory inhibition tasks was mostly intact. The deficits that did appear were limited to preparatory oculomotor control, and were larger in patients with comorbid ADHD, psychotic-like symptoms, or under induced anger or anxiety. What are the implications of the main findings? Eye-tracking and pupil measures may complement self-report instruments in the clinical assessment of BPD, particularly to distinguish patients in whom the threat-related bias predominates from those with reduced engagement towards rewarding social cues. Intranasal oxytocin reduced amygdala-driven vigilance and partly normalised gaze behaviour, which lends preliminary support to combined approaches integrating pharmacological adjuncts with Dialectical Behaviour Therapy. Abstract Background/Objectives: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe mental disorder characterised by emotion dysregulation, impulsivity and interpersonal hypersensitivity. Its prevalence ranges from 0.5% to 6.4%. Eye tracking and pupillometry provide objective indices of social attention and inhibitory control, but the BPD literature using these techniques has not been systematically…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a systematic review, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid. Reported size: 19 participants or records.
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