The Neurochemical Basis of Antisocial Personality Disorder and Psychopathy
Violent crime has enormous financial and human costs: 614,400 incidents of violence per year in the UK costing the economy £124 billion. It is mostly committed by men with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). These men have a stable pattern of violent and antisocial behaviour from childhood. About 1/3 meet additional criteria for ‘psychopathy’: individuals who have abnormal patterns of empathy and fail to respond to treatments. This places great strain on NHS resources, which lack effective treatments for many of these men. Evidence shows that there are structural and functional differences in the brains of these men, which play a role in their antisocial behaviours. However, knowledge of the underlying brain chemistry (neurochemistry) is limited. Hence, our group is aiming to develop an understanding of the role of different neurochemical systems in ASPD and psychopathy, and how they interact.
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Improving understanding of infant brain development in early life
The Brain Imaging in Babies study (BIBS) aims to improve understanding of how a baby's brain develops from before birth up until 3-4 years of age. Working with children from a variety of backgrounds and communities, we use a combination of state of the art diagnostic tools such as MRI scans alongside traditional behavioural assessments to capture the earliest information on infant brain development.
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ABC: Altering Behaviour in Children
Behavioural difficulties also known as Conduct Problems (CP) is the commonest childhood mental health condition. Although the underlying cause is complex, there is strong evidence that children with CP have differences in brain anatomy and function. Understanding the cause(s) of CP is important as these children are much more likely to have continued problems in adult life. We are conducting a long-term study of 90 boys (aged 5-10 years old) with CP with data being collected at two points: before and after the completion of parenting interventions. Imaging and behavioural measures will take place at both time points. We will also be completing these measures with children without CP and then compare the data across both groups.
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Neurodevelopmental Disorders Clinical Trials Centre (NDD-CTC)
The NDD-CTC undertakes fully powered clinical trials of potential treatments identified in our clinical trials pipeline based on shiftability and other experimental studies within the department, and includes treatments for individuals with Autism spectrum conditions, Down syndrome, and intellectual disabilities.
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EU-AIMS Longitudinal European Autism Project (LEAP)
The EU-AIMS Longitudinal European Autism Project (LEAP) aims to identify risk factors that contribute to differences in brain development, difficulties in social behaviour and other core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). By understanding how the brain develops, we can improve our ability to detect if something is out of the ordinary then tailor interventions to individuals with different developmental conditions.
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