Transcranial direct current stimulation and online cognitive training to enhance cognitive function and emotional stability in borderline personality disorder: an open-labelled pilot study
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Background: Despite the effectiveness of specialized therapies, people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) continue to face substantial psychosocial challenges, which may be partially attributed to neuropsychological deficits arising from imbalances in the corticolimbic system. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) targeting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) could enhance impulse control, emotional regulation, and cognitive functions; thus, we sought to explore the effectiveness of tDCS combined with online cognitive training on cognitive functions, BPD symptoms, and psychosocial functioning among patients with BPD. Methods: This open-label study recruited adults with BPD who were not undergoing psychotherapy. Participants completed informational psychoeducation sessions, followed by 10 daily sessions of 20-minute tDCS over 2 weeks. Stimulation involved a continuous 2-mA current with the anode over the left DLPFC and the cathode over the right DLPFC. During each session, participants simultaneously engaged in online cognitive training using the Lumosity app ( aspredicted.org no. 206 001). Results: We included 29 participants. We noted significant improvements in cognitive functions, including the Towers of London task (Cohen d = −0.38 to −0.78), the Corsi Block-Tapping direct and total scores ( d = −0.41 and −0.42, respectively), and the Stroop Interference and Alternance tests ( d = 0.80 and 0.94, respectively). Emotional dysregulation showed a substantial reduction ( d = 0.44), while impulsivity did not change significantly. Symptoms of BPD decreased ( d = 0.69), while general functioning ( d = 0.33) and the internal component of BPD functioning improved ( d = −0.51). Limitations: Although these preliminary findings are encouraging, further controlled studies are necessary to validate the efficacy and long-term effect of the intervention. Conclusion: This combined approach appears to be well tolerated and produced promising short-term improvements in cognitive performance, BPD symptoms, and overall functioning. The results underscore the relevance of the left DLPFC in developing neuropsychologically integrative interventions for BPD.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.003 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".