(57) The Neural Correlates of Impulsivity and Affect Instability on the Emotional Linguistic GO/NO-GO Task

     There is little research examining the neural mechanisms underlying affect and decision-making in individuals with traits associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD), specifically affect instability and... [ view full abstract ]

     There is little research examining the neural mechanisms underlying affect and decision-making in individuals with traits associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD), specifically affect instability and impulsivity. In the proposed study, we will examine the interaction between emotion processing and response inhibition by having participants perform an emotional linguistic GO/NO-GO task while event-related brain potential (ERPs) are recorded. We are particularly interested in observing shifts in neural activity associated with conflict monitoring, such as the N2 waveform for NO-GO trials. The N2 is an index of inhibiting potentially erroneous responses. We expect to find decreased amplitude on NO-GO trials for individuals with increased affect instability and increased impulsivity in comparison to those who report greater affect stability and fewer impulsive traits. Data from this experiment will provide further insight into the neural mechanisms underlying emotion dysregulation, which is essential for improving treatment options for BPD.