Aggression and Irritability in Neurodevelopmental Conditions: A Translational Approach

Aggression is a common form of challenging behaviour among individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as autism, ADHD, schizophrenia and psychopathy. Aggressive behaviours have a serious negative impact on both affected individuals and their families. Aggressive behaviour often leads to removal from education-based settings, and entry into the criminal justice system - yet we lack effective treatments. Given the worldwide increase in the incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders, development of effective interventions is urgently needed. However, the search for therapies is hampered by our poor understanding of causal mechanisms.

In the translational programme of research in the Sackler Institute at KCL, we combine human and rodent studies to examine neurobiological underpinnings of NDD-associated aggression. We are pleased to offer a PhD opportunity to join our team and work in either/or both humans and rodents to examine the brain biology of aggression in NDD. We use MRI as a translational tool to examine brain structure, function and biochemistry in-vivo. Thus, we aim to define the brain systems involved in aggression in NDD in our patient populations and then establish whether these signatures can be recapitulated in mice carrying risk genes (e.g. Neuroligin 3 or Neurexin-1a knock-out animals which are highly aggressive) for NDD. Subsequently, ex-vivo work on animal models will allow us to confirm the cellular basis of what we see in the living brain and generate novel treatment targets.

By bridging the gap between basic and clinical research, this innovative multidisciplinary project provides unmatched breadth and depth of skills training and has the potential to rapidly impact upon our understanding and treatment of aggression associated with NDDs.

The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s, the largest academic psychiatric community in Europe links with South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to access approximately 30,000 outpatients. Thus, working here provides exposure to a unique resource of basic science and clinical expertise for the student. The Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences is equipped with state of the art imaging facilities, including two GE 3T MRI clinical research scanners and support from a dedicated team of engineers, physicists, statisticians, radiologists, and image analysts. The student will have comprehensive training, including in imaging, biomarker characterisation, data acquisition, computation and analysis as well as specific training in clinical ethics, recruitment and assessment.

Start date: 1st February 2019