Mapping antecedents and trajectories of antisocial behaviour and psychosis in the developing brain

Forerunners

The overarching aim with the project is to identify antecedents and trajectories of antisocial traits and psychosis in the developing brain using longitudinal cohorts with neuroimaging and machine learning, quantify contribution of genetic and environmental factors. These findings can be translated into new targets for early detection, prevention and tailor-made treatment. 

Violence in severe mental disorders represents a major burden for mental health providers, the legal system and the society at large. A major challenge is to disentangle the complex interplay between psychosis and antisocial behaviour leading to violent offending, and map these manifestations to underlying neurobiological mechanisms.

As aggressive behaviour and prodromal psychosis symptoms usually emerge in late childhood and adolescence, this period constitutes a critical window for investigation of mechanisms in the developing brain. Novel insight into shared and divergent neurobiological underpinnings of antisocial behaviour and psychosis early in the development can be translated into improved detection, prevention and personalised treatment.

 

Method

To address this challenge, we will in this project utilise two large longitudinal prospective studies (ABCD and MoBa, combined n~125.000) comprising information on prodromal psychotic traits and disruptive behaviour, as well as biological and sociodemographic data. Neurobiological profiles of antisocial traits and early psychosis symptoms will be investigated over time with multimodal brain imaging data with cutting-edge analytical methods. 

  • Contact information

    The project is funded by the South-Eastern Health authorities, and conducted in collaboration with NORMENT and international experts, by post doc Natalia Tesli and PI Unn K. Haukvik.

    Project leader: Unn Kristin H. Haukvik
    Contact: u.k.h.haukvik@medisin.uio.no

    Post doc: Natalia Tesli
    Contact: natalia.tesli@ous-hf.no

Sist oppdatert 29.07.2024