Halvtidsseminarier Halvtidskontroll Gina Griffioen
Titel: Molecular imaging investigating neurobiological hypotheses of autism with positron emission tomography (PET)
Huvudhandledare
PhD Jacqueline Borg, Insitutionen för Klinisk neurovetenskap, Karolinska Institutet
Professor Simon Cervenka, Insitutionen för Klinisk neurovetenskap, Karolinska Institutet
Professor/psykolog Sven Bölte, Institutionen för Kvinnor och Barns hälsa, Karolinska Institutet
Halvtidsnämnd
Assisterande professor Sebastian Lundström, Sektionen för psykiatri och neurokemi, Göteborgs Universitet
Professor Tomas Furmark, Institutionen för psykologi, Uppsala Universitet
Docent Rochellys Diaz Heijtz, Institutionen för Neurovetenskap, Karolinska Institutet
Kort beskrivning
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is life-long disorder with poorly understood neurobiology. ASD is related to alterations in brain development. The process of synapse formation and elimination is likely disturbed, probably causing a different organization of the brain and its circuits. Many processes are involved, and several mechanisms are identified for ASD, where changes in the excitatory/inhibitory balance and alterations in the serotonin system are two of these mechanisms. This thesis will try to contribute to a better understanding of the biological mechanisms behind ASD, by neuro-imaging synapse-density, the excitatory glutamate 5 receptor and parts of the serotonin system. We will also try to study ASD behaviour phenotypes in relation to these potential biomarkers. Lastly, we will try to address replication issues by using Bayesian statistics.