Multiple disorders

Katherine M. Nautiyal, Ph.D., of Columbia University, hopes to delineate the roots of impulsive aggression, a key feature of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and conduct disorder. A better understanding of the development of aggressive behaviour and the underlying neural circuits will promote interventions and targeted treatments for excessive aggression found in psychiatric disorders. Dr. Nautiyal proposes to study the effects of receptors for serotonin, implicated in many mood disorders. Looking at a novel model of serotonin signaling in mice, her team will map circuits involved in aggressive behaviour and contributing to a critical period in the lifespan when aggression is likely to develop.