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

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.

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. 

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.